The Technology Blog

My Life With Technology

2008-05-04T12:44:00.000-07:00

!!The following post is dedicated to... JOHANNA!!

Hey guys,

Today I'm going to write this post about my life and history with, well, technology. Gadgets and computers have been in my life since the very first time my dad plopped my on his lap, put my hand on the mouse, and let me explore. That was when I was about 5 months old. I immediately observed that when I pressed one of the keys on the keyboard, something would happen on the screen. I also remember playing this computer game with bubbles all over the screen, and when you moved your mouse over the bubbles, they would pop, and and animal would fall our of the bubble and run away (I know, wtf XD). I was addicted since infancy!

4 years old. I play Roger Rabbit on my computer. My little sister had her own computer as well. One day, her computer broke, and the Roger Rabbit game froze. She was really sad. I don't quite remember what I did, but I ended up fixing it. That was the day I decided that I wanted to be in technology for the rest of my life.

Now, moving ahead a couple years. I remember the first time I went to my friend's house, who had a NES, and her showing me how to play Super Mario Bros. I fell in love with the game (which was very difficult for me at the time, I couldn't get past the third stage after on level 1!). I was then exposed to Duck Hunt, and the original Legend of Zelda.

Now another couple years has passed. I'm 7. My dad teaches me the basics of HTML, and I write my first simple webpage, using notepad. I later on discovered "Microsoft Frontpage", and used that for a bit. In third grade, we started to learn how to type properly (touch typing). I remember having a crazy computer teacher who would scream at you if you didn't type properly. Most students in my class, including me, achieved about 25 WPM in touch typing by the end of the year.

I'm 8. I receive my first (handheld) console ever. The Gameboy Colour. My cousins gave my sister and I a green one, as well as Pokemon Silver. My other friend gave me Tetris Attack. I couldn't even put it down the first few weeks.

Another couple years fly by. Theres a craze with "Icy Tower", an extremely pointless addictive game (which I still play sometimes now). We had about 4 computers at the back of our class, and whenever we had free time, everyone would race to the back and take turns playing it, and "Bubble Trouble" as well. Neopets was becoming really popular at that time as well, so everyone had a "Neopet". Playing Neopets enhanced my HTML, as you need to have a well knowledge of it to edit your profile page. I retired with 4 painted pets, a few extremely rare items, and around 8 million neopoints. I also remember being addicted to the MMORPG called "Runescape". I would play it for hours and hours straight. Even though I was completely drowning my addiction for the game, Runescape was how I became a fast touch-typist. I typed 75 WPM at 10 years old.

6th grade. I switch from a small private school to an even smaller public school. The computer lab had Mac G3s. It was the first time I had experienced a mac. After using Windows all my life, I was completely baffled by the strange new operating system. I eventually got used to it, and became "BiOS" (I could use both a Windows and Mac machine).

7th grade. First year of high school (I'm Canadian). The computer teacher was teaching typing, with the goal of 30 WPM for every student in the class by the end of the year. I had already achieved this task in third grade, so he asked me if I wanted to learn HTML. I told him that I already knew HTML since I was 7. My computer teacher, who was completely in shock by my advanced computer skill, asked me to build a website for his basketball team, which I did. I also helped him enter marks of other students into the computer. I also got a DS and a Wii that year. It was also the first year I was exposed to the world of iPods, after received the iPod video for my birthday. This is the year I also stopped being a Microsoft fangirl, and started wanting a Macbook.

8th grade. My computer teacher thinks I am completely stupid and tries to teach me HTML. He then attempts to teach m CSS, along with Javascript, which I already know. The iPod Touch is released. I go crazy, dying to have one. I save up for one with holiday money and finally purchase it. Wonderful sense of accomplishment. After another few months of saving, I go out to BestBuy with the objective to buy the Sony MPEG4 Net Sharing Camcorder. I fail at completing the task, as the PSP had caught my eye, and I couldn't resist it. That was the day I changed minds about being a hardcore Nintendo fangirl. I became open to Xbox and Playstation.

To be continued when I grow up.

Top 5 Nintendo DS Games

2008-04-29T19:30:00.000-07:00

Hey guys,

Today I come to you with a top 5 list of my favorite Nintendo DS games. Enjoy!

5. Elite Beat Agents - This music rhythm game is loads of fun, has great songs, and really suits the DS. It uses the touch screen in a very creative way, and is just a blast!

4. Metroid Prime: Hunters - Samus is back, but this time on the DS! This is just about the best first person shooter game on the DS. Use the touch screen to aim your gun, control pad to move, and L button to shoot. Innovative controls for the DS!

3. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - A game that seems boring at first, but turns out to be a great (somewhat adventurous) game! Play as a lawyer, solving murder cases, and more! One of the best storylines on the DS.

2. New Super Mario Bros. - After over a decade, our favorite Nintendo character is finally back! This time, it's on the DS! This is a must-have game for any of the Nintendo DS owners out there, from casual to hardcore gamers!

1. Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass - Toon Link is back in the latest game of the classic LoZ series. Join him on the greatest adventure game on DS, using ONLY the touch screen! There are no buttons to be used in this game, yet the controls are flawless! LoZ: PH has the best graphics the DS can offer, and was named the DS game of the year. Absolute must-have for anyone and EVERYONE!

Geek Movies

2008-04-17T19:47:00.000-07:00

Hey guys,

Today I come to you with a top 6 list of best geek movies. Enjoy!

6. Pirates of Silicon Valley – The story about Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and the creation of Apple and Microsoft.

5. Matrix – This is basically a classic geek movie about Neo, enjoyable to all!

4. Wargames – A teenager who hacked into the Pentagon and by accidentally starts World War III.

3. Hackers – This is a romantic hacker movie, starring Angelina Jolie. A real classic, and another great movie!

2. The Wizard – This is an absolutely amazing movie about old school Nintendo games.

1. Tron – A hacker who is sucked into a virtual computer world and forced to participate in several gladiatorial challenges and games. Nothing can really beat that!

Spring Cleaning for Geeks

2008-04-11T21:15:00.000-07:00

Hey guys,

Heres a top 5 list on geeky spring cleaning. Enjoy!

5. Dust off those shiny gadgets - Technology can get quite a bit dusty, so just clean out the grime in the little spots, and make sure the screen is in good condition!

4. Organize your desk - Desks do get messy after a while, so organize your desk, and you will be able to maintain your organized geeky life! Oh, and while you're at it, you might as well also clean out the rest of your room/office.

3. Cable capers; organize them! - Being a geek, my cables do get tangled up with each other after about... A day of use. To prevent this, untangle and organize all of your gadget/computer cables from time to time.

2. Get rid of your old unnecessary computer parts/gadgets - Sell or discard any old useless geek stuff that you don't need anymore. You can make a bit of money, and you'll also have more space to store all your new upcoming gadgets!

1. Clean up your virtual desktop - All those downloads do eventually clutter up your desktop, so take some time off and place those files in the right folders!

List of things to do, get, and upcoming videos!

2008-03-28T22:36:00.000-07:00

Hey guys,

Before I start my actual post, I just wanted to say that I FINALLY FOUND GUITAR HERO 3! My friends also got me Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas for PSP, so I will be doing a video on that soon too. Anyways, today I just wanted to post my list of possible upcoming videos, list of things to get/buy, and list of things to do. Enjoy!

Super Smash Bros Brawl review
Guitar Hero 3 review
Macbook Air review
Dell XPS M1330 review
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas review
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City review
Daxter review
PSP Slim review
PSP Slim vs. DS Lite comparison
My upcoming TechTips segment (tips for general tech), probably a few videos or more.

Now, my list of things to get/buy!:

New LCD monitor
Super Mario Galaxy
Sony MPEG4 Camcorder (or something similar)

Yeah, my list is not too big for that (which is good =D). And now, my list of things to do (in general):

Get around to making all those videos
Save up/work to get the things on my list of things to get/buy
Beat my essential DS games (phantom hourglass, phoenix wright, etc.)
Beat SSBB adventure mode
Beat Guitar Hero 3 career mode in all levels
Beat my essential Wii games (corruption, twilight princess, etc.)
Beat PSP games

Finally, my last thing that goes on top of everything is: Study hard and work hard. That’s the most important for me.

See you next time,

Sonia

PSP Slim

2008-03-24T11:06:00.001-07:00

Hey guys,

As most of you know, I recently bought a PSP Slim. I purchased the "Daxter Entertainment Pack", which came with the limited edition 'Ice Silver PSP', Daxter, Family Guy: The Freakin' Sweet Collection, and a 1GB memory stick pro duo. Also, there was luckily one copy of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City left, so I bought that too.

At first, I felt horribly wrong owning the PSP, like I was stabbing Nintendo in the face. But now, I really feel okay, and both games are incredibly fun! I also have a little 'behind the scenes' secret for all of you. You may have seen my "I'm Sorry" video, and then the "Confusion" video. In that video, I stated that the reason I didn't make an unboxing of it was because I didn't feel that it deserved one. But, the actual reason was that I HAD made an unboxing video, but my microphone screwed up and didn't get ANY sound! So yeah, thats basically all I wanted to write about, and also I will be making reviews for the PSP itself, and both games.

See ya next time,

Sonia

Top 7 Best Freeware Programs!

2008-03-14T20:56:00.000-07:00

Hey guys,

Today I’m going to talk about my top 7 list of favorite freeware software! These days, there are many free alternatives to expensive programs. So, here goes! (Oh and, this list doesn’t include virus/security software).

PS – “Why only 7?”, you may ask. Well, 10 is an overrated number……… I also couldn’t think of anything else at the moment. ^_^. Enjoy!

7. Firefox

http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/

A free, fast, and clean internet browser. I actually prefer this over Opera, but that’s just because I’m used to it. Equivalent to Opera.

6. Opera

http://www.opera.com/download/

Another free internet browser. A bit faster and cleaner than Firefox. Equivalent to… Firefox!

5. Pidgin

http://www.pidgin.im/download/

An open-source IM program that allows you to login to multiple popular IM programs at the same time, all in one program! Equivalent to Trillian.

4. Skype

http://www.skype.com/download/skype/windows/

A free VOIP program that includes video calling. ‘Skype credits’ (for purchase) available to call actual landlines and cellphones. Beset VOIP software out there.

3. Audacity

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/

An open-source audio editor and recorder. Also able to convert audio formats. Also equivalent to nothing, since it is just about the best audio-editor out there.

2. OpenOffice

http://download.openoffice.org/

An open-source text-editing program. Equivalent to Microsoft Word!

1. Gimp

http://www.gimp.org/downloads/

A great photo-editing program. Equivalent to PhotoShop!

How to No-Life

2008-03-10T10:40:00.000-07:00

I'm going to admit it . I used to be addicted to an MMORPG called Runescape. I quit a couple years ago, but I used to still go on the forums for a while after that because I liked to talk to my old RS friends. So anyways, this morning I was digging in some of my old files and I found a word file I had saved a while back onto my computer. It was a really interesting guide. The only credits I get is for posting this, but it was "Skatedog111" who originally wrote this. Enjoy!

PS - The main point of the guide was to 'no-life' playing Runescape, but it can still be used for just about anything on the computer.

---------------------------------

~How To No-Life~
By: Skatedog111

Table of Contents

1.0-Introduction
1.1-Disclaimer
1.2-Background Experience
2.0-The Phrase 'No-life'
2.1-What It entitles
2.2-Proper No-Lifing
3.0-Getting Ready To No-Life
3.1-During No-Lifing
3.2-End Of No-Lifing
4.0-Your Limits
4.1-The Conclusion
5.0-Tips And Advice
------------------------------------------------------------------------

1.0 Introduction

First off hello! This is my third 'large' guide I have made, accompanied with over 10+ small guides, unrelating to runescape. Many of my friends online, and concerned family members have used phrases like 'your a mole, you play in the dark and come out of your hole for food', and others 'stop no-lifing you dumb noob'. Great friends and family eh? This guide aims at giving you proper no-lifing skills, I have developed, and tested. For the record I am not a newb at no-lifing, so you can be assured this is a well-written guide. I hope you enjoy it, as much as I did writing it!
~Skate

1.1 Disclaimer

This guide does not imply you to no-life, and any action you do while using the methods on this document are at your own risk. All humans react differently to exhaustion. Do not go over your limits. Do not push yourself. Some might call me sad for playing as long as I do at times, I laugh because it is my choice.

1.2 Background Experience

My background experience consists of 6 years of runescape, and probably around 700+ hours of no-lifing altogether. The longest I have no-lifed for, was 56 hours and 23 minutes, before collapsing and going to the hospital with extreme exhaustion and a doctor who I quote, 'Half an hour longer, he may have died'. This reason I strongly suggest if you choose to no-life to have a phone near-by with 911 on speed dial, have cold clothes ready after the first 20 hours or so. Your body may become exhausted after 1-3hours, do not push yourself. The shortest I've no-lifed is 21 hours, with no harmful reactions. I can assure you, I know what I am doing.

2.0 The Phrase 'No-Life'

Many call the phrase 'no-life' an idiotic thing to do. But once you successfully do your first long-term no-life, you know how funny those people found. After hearing what a few friends, a few strangers in-game had to say about no lifing, and the personnal experience of mine, I think a definition of no-life would be something close to this:

A feat done by a human, having no rest for an extended period of time, with the soul purpose of staying focused on one task for 27+ hours, without fainting, or switching to another task.

^I think that does us no-lifers proud.

2.1 What It Entitles

No-lifing requires a long attention span, and focus. When no-lifing you must stay on the one task you set, whether it be, write a guide, runescape skilling, merchanting, forum posting..etc, without switching to another task-say watching a youtube video while you kill monsters. However fishing, woodcutting, farming are some of the few exceptions. You must sustain a 20 hour long period before you can call yourself an official 'no-lifer'. Although I hope you don't go past 50 hours...every minute after 50 hours is grueling...so bad, I'm not gonna describe it. There is a negative part here to. Emotions. If your dad or mom, or guardian happen to come and find you for a period of 20+ hours, you may get yelled at with computer privileges taken away. If your living on your own, remember life does come before the internet. I highly suggest you do not pick up the phone unless needed, keep some msn contacts, or an im program, with some contacts blocked, so your not too distracted. Finally there is a physical strain. It starts out after 16hours, it gets worse until 30 hours, it starts to fall down, then suddenly it creeps back up fast, pain, headaches flare, this lasts for 3-5hours, and eventually you become numb to it. After several times no-lifing you begin to expect it, and you bare with it better.

2.2 Proper No-Lifing

There are rules to no-lifing however:
1. Must stay focused on one task.
2. Have all real life complications dealt with, you leave your chair, you re-start no lifing.
3. You may go to the washroom 19-25 times<- - may seem high, but you'll quickly learn.
4. 10-15 seconds talking with instant messenging contacts.
5. Must keep 10-15minutes between switching.
6. Keep hydrated.
7. When your deprived of sleep, eating will keep you awake-my theory.

Those are by me. They are my rules to no-lifing, and I highly suggest you follow them, if you choose to no-life.

3.0 Getting Ready To No-Life

These are a must, not only will they keep your mind in shape, but also reduce pain you may run into with during your no-lifing.

1)Stretch: Stretch for at least 7 minutes, stretch your arms, legs, head, beck, all joints. This will keep your body relaxed, and won't have as much cramps.

2)Water: Have 5 bottles of water ready at all times. Drink them every 2-3 hours.

3)Wet clothes: If your feeling hot, please put these on your head, arms, and thighs.

4)Every 5 hours, stand up, re-stretch all your joints.

5)Keep positive and ignore any and all pain.

6)Posture. I have crappy posture. Sit up straight as long as possible, but don't over do it. You can get rid of good posture, and put in the more comfortable posture at anytime.

7)Massage your fingers, especially your mouse hand.

8)If you feel faint(not tiredness), hot flashes, and any illusions you see, stand up and lie down on a comfortable flat surface(a bed).

9) Energy Drinks. This is important. I highly doubt anyone can stay 56 hours straight without any sort of boost. My boost is Coca Cola, thats all I need, energy drinks you may need however because we're all built differently. Be wise on how you drink energy drinks however. Give 4-7 hours between each one.

10)Bathroom. So I've told you to drink 5 waters, some sort of a boost, and food. Think you can go to the washroom only 4-5 times. Wrong! I tallied it up once, on average I went to the washroom 16 times per no-life.

^Follow these, and you'll most likely have fun after you've completed no-lifing.

3.1 During No-Lifing

Well, your probably into 7 hours of no lifing for this part. The pain I was talking about, starts to exist here. Your fingers feel like snapping, your neck and probably a few areas on your back is bothering you. Remember at this time, you should have had one energy drink, one water, and some kind of high in calorie food(a lot of it). You should be thinking about quitting this, and going to sleep. Hopefully you stay positive, because if you quit, you'll become angry with yourself and end up doing it all over again. Stand up and stretch too, don't forget that part!

3.2 End Of No-lifing

If you ever make it to this point in your no-lifing, I highly suggest stretching double time, drinking more, and not eating a lot. If your past your 20+ hours, you may quit here, however if you continue you'll experience things that I can't describe. If you choose to end, stretch out, lightly. Drink that last water, go to the washroom, and go to sleep.

If you continue, drink more, eat more, and drink more of that energy booster. Stretch more often more. A new thing, blink fast for 1 minute, facing away from the screen(preferably turn ur monitor off). Do not stretch in your chair. Always stand up and stretch. If you get to 50 hours, I strongly suggest you stop now. Go to sleep immediately(following the above suggested)!!

4.0 Your Limits

Everyone has limits. Everyone can push their limits too. But like in my case, I pushed 6 hours, and I ended up near death. You may think its fun to no-life, and it is to some degree. But it is extremely dangerous to your health. You can develope insomnia, headaches, and cataracts. Do not push, you have limits for a reason. Do not bet with your friends who can no-life longer.

No-lifing is to be done solo, and personally.

4.1 The Conclusion

If you have read this guide, thoroughly, and understood it, I am happy for you. You now have the know-how to no-life properly, and you already have the will to no-life already! I hope everything I've written so far meets your criteria, and surpasses it. I hope to hear from you, that you have successfully done 40-50hours of no lifing, if you choose to do so...
~Skate

5.0 Tips & Advice

1)Have parental permission.
2)Use 800x600 screen resolution.
3)Keep something in your head that's positive.
4)This is intended for runescape no-lifing/forum posting no-lifing
5)Have someone supporting you along the way, but not lifting some of your weight.

5.1 Credits & Guide Version

Credits:
Author:
Inkofdeath/Skatedog111/Mageof Pain4 (one person)

Guide Version
Version 1.0 - June 13th Wednesday 2007
-----
This is not a joke guide, this is a serious guide, though its been locked on tip.it, and rejected on rsc. hmm.gif

Find any mistakes, or errors, or anything tell me. I'll gladly fix. ^^

Pay per click

2008-03-07T20:06:00.000-08:00

Hey guys,

Today I wanted to talk about the pay per click (or PPC) method of making online revenue. Here’s how it works, let’s say you are a young company who isn’t getting much business. To promote your site, you would contact a PPC company, like Evoplus (www.evoplus.com), to put ads of your company’s website on other websites. Every time someone clicks on an ad directing to your site, (thus heightening your chances of making money), you pay Evoplus a small sum (only a couple cents a click). It gives profit to both you, and the PPC company. Now you might ask, “Well where are the ads hosted?” Well, a site could volunteer to host a certain PPC company’s ads (in this case, Evoplus), and every time someone clicks on an ad from their site, then it would generate money for the site owner as well. So, the new company, the PPC company, and the site hosting ads will all make money, making everyone happy! Yay!

How to keep a minimum amount of tabs open

2008-03-04T09:52:00.000-08:00

Hey guys,

Lately I’ve been having trouble with the amount of tabs open in my browser (firefox). I usually have anywhere from 10 to 40 tabs open, and when I get to around 30+, my computer gets all laggy, and firefox starts to act really weirdly. So I thought… Why not make a short guide on how to keep your open tabs to a minimum? Enjoy!

STEP 1

Make sure that you close all unnecessary tabs. If you aren’t currently using them but you need them for after, bookmark the page before closing the tab.

STEP 2

Video watching (Youtube, Metacafe, Dailymotion, etc.) can take up a bundle of tabs that could be replaced with more important pages. When watching videos, try to finish each one before viewing the next, so everything stays in one tab (this method can also be applied to other sites).

STEP 3

Keep another firefox window open to separate your essentials from your random surfing tabs. (Ex: Email, Facebook/Myspace, etc. in one window, and the rest in another window). This helps you organize your tabs more easily.

So, that are the three easy steps you need to keep your tabs to a minimum, and keep your pc speed to a maximum! Oh and, before I end this blog post, my dad gave me a copy of project Longhorn (beta of vista) he received a few years back, so I might make a video/post about it.

Sonia

Sorry for not posting!

2008-02-22T13:51:00.002-08:00

Hey guys,

I'm sorry for not posting in a while. I came back from ski trip, got sick, and now I have a bunch of projects and ORALS (*dies*) that I have to work on. Anyways, I plan to make a video comparison of the Archos 605 Wifi vs. the iPod Touch soon, so look out for that.

Anyways, the first topic I wanted to talk about today is the format wars. As you know (well most of you), Toshiba finally decided to give up on HD, and is now going for Blu-Ray. So, HD-DVD is officially dead. I find it kind of sad because I was supporting HD. Blu-Ray is Sony, and Sony is going all crazy on DRM and everything, and admit it: EVERYONE DOWNLOADS MOVIES/TV SHOWS! Well, it looks like its probably going to be a bit harder in the future, but I'm sure there will always be some crazy hacker dude who would be able to crack through it (thanks god). So for now, I guess we'll just have to wait and see where all of this is going to go...

Ok, so for the second topic: Podcasts. What do you think of them? For a while now, I've been thinking about making a podcast for this blog, and submitting it onto iTunes. I have already tested my microphone, and I think that the quality is decent for podcasting. I've also played around with Audacity, and I'm pretty familiar with all the controls. Anyways, back to the main subject. Okay so, I'm starting to think that all this is a bit too much. I mean, I have school, and a bunch of other activities in my actual life. So maybe I should just stick to my videos and blog for now... Yeah.

Wow, sorry for the random useless paragraph there XD! Anyways, the other day, I was listening to music on my iPod (touch), and I randomly pressed the home button twice while in the music app. After I pressed it, it went to the iPhone phone app! Like, I could access "contacts", "favorites", a even the keypad! So yeah, I thought that that was kind of of weird.

Last subject: Photo editing. Recently, I developed a strange addiction to playing around with images, and editing them. So, I acquired a copy of Photoshop C3, and I'm going to start learning how to use everything, and how to do special effects. That would probably be my personal project of the month... Something like that.

Anyways, my four hour break is almost over (there was science fair today, and we had a break between 2:30 and 6:30, and I have to go back to my school from 6:30 until 8:30 for public viewing and awards, not that I won any XD). Hopefully there won't be another long time before I post again, I'm determined!

Sonia

32GB iPod Touch and 16GB iPhone update

2008-02-09T21:41:00.000-08:00

Hey guys,

So, I just posted my review of Dance Dance Revolution: Hottest Party on youtube (http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=SJpJOtI7sFc), so yeah. Anyways, what I wanted to talk about today is the update Apple made on the iPod Touch and iPhone. They released a 16 gigabyte iPhone, and a 32 gigabyte iPod Touch.

I’m mostly going to talk about the iPod Touch, not the iPhone, because I don’t plan on getting one any time soon… Or, ever… Or at least they make a better version. Okay, so the 32GB iPod Touch is awesome! One of the main reasons a lot of people held back on getting a Touch before was because it was too small, but now 32 gigs gives you a lot more space. This would be perfect, except for one small problem. It’s freaking HALF A THOUSAND DOLLARS! Okay, I like iPod Touch’s and all, but I don’t think I’m about to go blow 500 bucks on an iPod.

Ok so, I’ve decided to add a bit talking about the iPhone. As you know, or if you didn’t, I think that the phone part of the iPhone is completely horrible. I mean, I like everything about the iPhone, just not the phone. But anyways, 16 gigabytes is a lot of space for a phone, so I think that its an advantage (even if it doesn’t have a micro/SD slot). So yeah, that’s basically it for now, and I’m going on a ski trip next week, so next weekend I think that I will be making an Archos 605 WiFi comparison video to the iPod Touch. See you then!

Sonia

Pole Position: Remix for iPod

2008-02-01T09:11:00.000-08:00

Hey guys,

So, recently I bought yet another game for my iPod Video. Pole Position: Remix is the latest game to be added to the iTunes Store Games library. This is a classic racing game, and in my opinion, the iPod version was quite well made. To accelerate, all you have to do is touch the scroll wheel, and you turn by scrolling. It actually feels a bit like a mini driving experience, well more than just using the side buttons. The sound is pretty cool too, full with all the car and crash sound effects. The game music is also quite entertaining as well.

This game is actually a lot harder than it looks, but not too hard to make you stop playing it. There are loads of different tracks, competitions, and you can set your own difficulty level. There is also a really cool feature that lets you unlock 'themes', such as pacman, tekken, and many other retro styles! You can play the game in either automatic, or manual mode. If manual mode is chosen, then you shift gears by pressing the center button.

In all, Pole Position: Remix has, and still is providing me hours of fun. I'd definitely recommend this game to all you iPod-gamers out there. Pole Position: Remix gets a 9 out of 10.

Video Games

2008-01-26T21:46:00.000-08:00

Hey guys,

So, there are only two games left that I want for the Wii (for now). This is Guitar Hero 3 and Super Mario Galaxy. Both are absolutely IMPOSSIBLE to find! Today, I dropped by EBGames to see if they had any of either. Both games are STILL sold out! I've been looking since before Christmas! Anyways, I decided to buy DDR: Hottest Party instead, to get my mind off of the other two games. It's quite fun actually. I'm the type of person that likes games where you can kind of stop playing for a while, and then randomly pick up the game and be able to continue after a long time of not playing (with the exception of mario, zelda, metroid, and the other essentials of course).

So obviously, I would absolutely need Guitar Hero, and with the Mario addiction of mine, thus torturing me to get BOTH games. There are no DS games that totally grab my attention, but there are still a few games that still interest me a bit, like drawn to life, or that master of illusions game. Anyways, this post was just a quick update and I think that I'm going to write something about Dance Dance Revolution in my next post, so see you then!

Sonia

Macworld 2008

2008-01-18T21:21:00.001-08:00

Hey guys,

Well as most of you know, Macworld was a few days ago. Now, I would like to talk about a few things that were released during Macworld. The first thing is the MacBook Air. This is apparently the thinnest notebook in the world. I think it looks pretty awesome, except its not really my type of laptop. I need more than one usb port, and definitely need an optical drive. So, it didn't really appeal to me. The next thing is iTunes Movie Rentals. Now you can "rent" movies off of iTunes for like 2.99 and 3.99 per movie. Once you rent a movie, you have 30 days to start watching it, and when you start watching it, you only have 24 hours to finish it. I think that the 30 day rule is fine, but 24 hours is a bit short. I would of considered using this service if they extended it to at least 48 hours, but for now it's a no go.

The next thing that they released was the new iPod Touch update. The once exclusive iPhone only apps are now available on the iPod Touch. But, this is going to cost you 20$. I think it's okay to charge for this, BUT, to get the new features in the firmware 1.1.3 update will also cost 20$! Now I think that this is just ridiculous. Since when did Apple start charging for FIRMWARE updates?! Thats not even the worst part, they also are going to include these features and iPhone apps in the new iPod Touches! That is just not fair! Did Apple just forget about their loyal customers who bought the Touch when it came out? What about us? Are they not at least going to give us a rebate? Seriously, that is just plain stupid.

Anyways, enough rambling about the iPod Touch/iPhone. Another thing they released was like an upgraded version of Apple TV. Now, I couldn't care less about this, so I'm not going to write anything about it. So that was basically all the major things (at least for me) that was released at Macworld 2008. Nothing too special, but whatever. I hope something a bit more interesting or something that isn't a ripoff gets released next year.

Sonia

iPod Games Reviews

2008-01-17T13:26:00.000-08:00

Here are three mini reviews of the iPod games I bought for my iPod Video a couple weeks ago:

PHASE

When I got my giftcard for iTunes, this was the first game that I got. It looks awesome, and it IS awesome. Phase is basically 'guitar hero' for you iPod, and was actually made by the makers of guitar hero. The cool thing about Phase is that you can just drag any song from you iTunes library into your 'Phase Playlist', and it will automatically encode the beats and everything, so you can play that song on Phase. This game is actually quite difficult on the harder levels, which I like because easy games just spoil all the fun. The beats are actually surprising accurate, and a quick game of your favorite song while your on the go is just a blast. Phase is definately my favorite iPod game so far.

PEGGLE

Peggle is a really addictive puzzle game. It's like pool, pinball, and many other games like that all mixed into one really fun game. The version of Peggle for your iPod is actually a port from the computer version, so all the levels are included. The point of the game is to hit all the orange dots, and hit the other colours for points and whatnot. It is really easy to learn how to play with the tutorial, yet the harder levels can he quite challenging. I think that this is a great game, and I would also recommend it to all those game-capable iPod owners out there.

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG

I was almost shocked when they released this game for the iPod. This is a port from the original sonic, it includes the music and everything! The controls are a bit frustrating at first, but its pretty easy to get the hang of them, so its not really a problem. There really isn't much to say about this game, as most of you probably already know what Sonic is, and it's the exact same game. So this game is pretty fun, and I like to play a bit once in a while.

Nintendo DS Review

2008-01-11T21:47:00.000-08:00

I've had a DS lite for a bit over a year now, and i think that it is time for a written review! I will talk about the DS lite and review the plain DS gaming platform (both versions of the DS in platforms are identical) So, I'll start with the design. The previous version of the Nintendo DS was thick and clunky and overall... Not really that attractive. But the latest version is sleek, smaller, and has that cool apple design. I find the buttons on the DS lite a lot easier to press and the power button has also been put onto the side, which is much less confusing for me. Another thing I like about the DS lite is the new stylus. The old stylus was thin and hard to use, but the new stylus is thicker, taller, and is placed in a much more convenient position (the side instead of the back). I have also always liked the Nintendo DS logo, but was a bit shocked when the first one did not in fact have the logo anywhere on the actual handheld console, but I was much more pleased with the new one.

The next thing I would like to talk about of the Nintendo DS is the games. There is a wide variety of games out for the DS, including first person shooters, cooking games, brain games, basically just a load of games for every age group (the DS can be enjoyed even by seniors!). Some of my favorite games include Metroid, Zelda, Mario, and even Phoenix Wright.

There are two screens on the DS, and one of them is a touch screen. Most games have very intuitive/creative uses for the touch part, so it is used very well. You can shoot aliens, slash at monsters, play tetris, or even chop lettuce! The touch screen is definitely one of my favorite parts on the DS.

The controls for games on the DS is excellent. With the exception of a few terrible games, every push and touch is smooth and responds perfectly. I love being able to play a quick level of Mario on the go.

The last thing I want to talk about is the battery life of the DS. It actually has extremely long battery life. On the highest brightness settings, I can get about 8 hours of gameplay before I have to plug it back in. On the second highest brightness settings, I can get about 9-13 hours, on the third i can get about 14-15, on the lowest brightness settings, I can get as much as 16 hours of gameplay! I also bought the Niko DS Charger, which adds an extra 8 hours, so that's literally A WHOLE DAY (24 hours) of gametime! I find that just amazing.

So, in all, I think that the Nintendo DS is a great gaming platform, and definitely my favorite handheld system. I would recommend the DS to people of all ages (kids to grandparents). Unlike the PSP, it is extremely hard to get bored of this system, and even I can barely put it down after a year! The Nintendo DS is a must have handheld console for both hardcore and casual gamers out there.

My Top 10 Favorite Jailbroken iPod Touch Apps

2008-01-06T12:15:00.000-08:00

Hey guys,

Here is a list of my top 10 favorite jailbroken ipod touch apps and a little description of each:

10. Labyrinth

This is one of my favorite games for the iPod Touch. I just love how you can tilt the ipod and make it seem like one of those real labyrinth games. I am aware about the new update, which the makers ask for money to buy the game (which I think is kind of a ripoff for 7$), so I just downgraded to the old version (someone on ipodtouchfans.com posted the file).

9. Sketches

This app is basically a sketchbook, where you can draw whatever you want. There is also a feature where you can import a picture from your photo library and doodle over it. I love this app because I can write small reminders, directions, or just doodle whatever I want.

8. ToDoList

In this app, you can type in what needs to be done, when it needs to be done for, and the level of importance. I now use this app daily to keep track of my homework, as well for personal things that needs to be done. Its just so convenient for me, since I bring my iPod almost anywhere I go.

7. Tap Tap Revolution

This app is basically a dance dance revolution and guitar hero mixed together for the iPod Touch. Anyone that has a wifi connection on their iPod can make song levels and upload it to the game library. It also syncs with your iPod music library, so you play your favorite songs!

6. Psx4all

This is basically just a playstation 1 emulator for the iPod Touch, and I know I'm a Nintendo only fan, but I still like playing some games on the emulator (though I would still never buy the actual console).

5. GpSPhone

This is another emulator for the iPod Touch, but for gameboy advance games. I love playing games on this, but there are still some button/sensitivity issues, and if they fix some bugs, I'm sure I would be able to play and enjoy this emulator a lot more in the future.

4. NES

This is the third emulator available for the iPod Touch, and in my opinion, the best one. I love being able to play Super Mario Bros. or the classic Legend of Zelda when I'm on the go, or maybe just in bed.

3. iPhone apps

This is actually a few apps, but I count them as a bundle so yeah. This includes Mail, Maps, Weather, Notes, and Stocks. These apps are just so cool and convenient. I can get directions, check my gmail, jot down a few notes, check the weather, or even see the status of all my stocks! (not that I have any XD).

2. iPhysics

This game is basically a port of "Crayon Physics" for the iPod Touch, and is definitely my favorite game available for the Touch right now. I just love the graphics, and the beautiful colors when you draw shapes and lines.

1. Voip

This app allows you to call people via voip (voice over ip). Although it is not perfect, the fact that you can call people from the iPod Touch is just AWESOME! I'm sure they will update it and make it even better in the future, but for now, with a few different skins (the original interface is just UGLY, no offense), this is definitely the coolest and my favorite jailbroken iPod Touch app...for now.

Camcorders

2008-01-02T12:24:00.000-08:00

Hey guys,

So lately I've been looking into a camcorder (I'm currently using a webcam), and I came across a few reasonable priced camcorders that suited my needs. The first one is the Flip Video camcorders (resolution 640x480). The 2 GB (60 minutes) one looks pretty convenient to me, as I just need something that will capture acceptable video quality for site such as Youtube. I like the built in USB port, and the fact that it isn't super expensive (140 CAD). Another thing that looks pretty cool to me is the colors available (black, white, pink, yellow, and orange).

Anyways, the second camcorder is the "Karbon Digital Video Camera" (resolution 640x480). This is a fairly cheaper camera (120 CAD) and uses external (SD cards) memory (8gb SD card would be 8 hours of recording). It also has a built in 10 megapixel digital camera at 3648x2736, which is one thing I like about it, and it also has 4x digital zoom.

The last camcorder that I found is called the "Sony MPEG4 Net Sharing Camcorder". This is the most expensive camcorder out of the three (190 CAD), but looks like the most stable one. It can record up to 5 hours of video and has 4x digital zoom as well. This camcorder is also made with video sharing sites in mind (like the Flip), which is exactly what I need.

These are the three camcorders that I have found, and I really hope to get one of them soon. So, which camcorder would YOU get, and why?

Happy New Years!

2008-01-01T11:16:00.000-08:00

Hey guys,

I just wanted to wish everybody a very happy new year, and I hope 2008 will be as great as the past year for everyone. I made my new years resolutions (keep on blogging, improve my videos, go green) as you can see in my video above. I'm really going to try to stick to them throughout the year, and I guess I'm doing one of them now by writing this XD. Anyways, this is going to be a short post, as I am still thinking of what to blog about next. I'd also appreciate requests of things to blog about (technology related of course), so my email is: sonia1234321@hotmail.com.

Hope to see you soon!

Gadgets and Gizmos

2007-12-29T14:45:00.001-08:00

Hey guys,

This is the first post in my new blog, and I just wanted to talk about my gadgets. As a lot of you know, I am a technology gadget freak and I'll drool over anything I can get my hands on. So, my current gadget collection consists of:

FinePix A700 7.3 megapixels digital camera

Its not that good of a camera, and there are battery issues (the rechargeable batteries don't last very long), but I do plan on buying a better camera (for both photo and video-taking).

Presario V3000 laptop, Intel Celeron M

Yes, I am very aware of the low specs of this computer (80 gigabytes, 1.6 GHz, 1024 mb of ram, etc.). This is a small laptop, and I use it for school purposes, which is the reason. I also plan on upgrading this laptop to a much better machine.

Nintendo DS Lite

This is my favorite handheld gaming system. I am a hardcore Nintendo fan, and have never had any other (handheld) gaming consoles other than Nintendo. I have multiple games for it, and I enjoy it very much.

Motorola Rizr Z3

This is my cellphone. I think that it is a great multimedia phone and it keeps up perfectly with all of my necessities. It has a 2 megapixel camera, a digital audio player, and many more extra features that I just adore.

iPod Video 5.5G 80 gigabytes

This was actually my first iPod, and I received as a birthday present last year. I now use mostly as an external hard drive (but I'm getting an actual external HDD for my laptop soon). It has served me well and is now residing it's pink leather case.

iPod Touch 8 gigabytes

This is in fact the newest member of my humble little collection. It has wi-fi capabilities, is jailbroken, and can practically store my whole library in it. But, I am actually going to return this one for the 16 gigabyte. I love the sleek and slim design of it, and I love it mostly because its the iPhone, WITHOUT the phone!

So, that is most of my gadget collection, and I do plan on adding many more! I do have a couple more here and there, but they are just minimal things like a gameboy colour and what-not.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed my first blog post, and I will probably be updating it a few times a week (depends on my mood and if I have something to talk about), but I'll try to update it at least once a week. So, what's in YOUR gadget bag? I'd appreciate it if you'd leave a comment. =]

Sonia