I purchased myself an iPod video (60GB) from the USA and had it shipped over here. the only reason I did this impulse buy was as there was a really fantastic special on Black Friday (the day after the Thanksgiving holiday in the USA where all electronic goods are seriously reduced for one day only).

I eventually got it just before I left on holiday (18 December) and so I had enough time to encode all of the movies/videos I wanted to before I left, to view on the airplane or while I was on the beach, whatever.

The encoding process was seamless with the software I found and I used high quality MP4 format to play on the iPod video (this format also works with the PSP BTW

The I loaded the converted videos into iTunes and this then synced with my iPod as soon as it was connected. This process was very smooth as the full length movies had shrunk in size and the transfer across USB was fast.

Then on the plane it came to actually viewing the video’s. I obeyed the pilot’s recommendation and only started the thing up when he said it was “safe” to do so The videos where awesome to watch, but I was a little apprehensive as to the small image on the screen and the potential lack of detail of the actual video that was displayed.

I was surprised at the quality and really enjoyed the videos on the iPod. there are two complaints though, my hand/arm got sore holding the thing up so that I could watch it and the number of people staring over my shoulder to see what I was doing and what I was watching.

The first issue is easy to solve, just rest it someplace, but on the airplane there is no such place and the second issue is to put some hardcore porn on the iPod and then play it when they are being rude and watching over my shoulder Somehow I doubt that will go down well.

This device is an awesome piece of technology and works really well. I had the 3rd Generation iPod and this is definitely a step up from that with full USB charging integration (none of the Firewire crap that the 3G model had). I highly recommend it to anyone who wants a portable music/video player – and the optional extra’s are staggering

Tags: iPod video, MP4, iTunes

Let’s get all hypothetical for a second. Pretend you’re sleeping at home and some dude breaks in and is going to rob you/kill you. How will you defend yourself quickly? Enter the Safe Bedside Table, a genius creation from designer James McAdam.

Hehe, quite a unique concept this, pretty awesome I think. Not quite a gadget, but versatile, this table doubles as a LARP prop. It’s a must see. heh.

En Garde! The Safe Bedside Table – Gizmodo

rsstroom reader – toilet paper printer! – The Adventures of Teapot the Cat

A crazy new product out of Taiwan seems to be aimed at the feed dependent of us out there. The ‘rsstroom reader’ is a bathroom gadget that prints news feeds onto your T-P – that’s right, your TOILET PAPER! The best part is the “biometrics” toilet seat that’ll figure out who you are based on your weight and prints the news you want – not your roommates tabloid garbage. Going to the rsstroom will never be boring again!

I’m not sure if this is a great idea, or just another gimmick. Heh, I’m leaning towards great idea. Except for the “biometrics” portion of it all. Using weight to determine who’s who? Hmmmm… It sounds a bit fishy to me, it all seems just a bit too much to be real… But is it fake?

Tags: rsstroom, toilet paper, biometrics

Image archive: video game controllers – Joystiq – www.joystiq.com

Take a trip down memory lane with this image archive of classic console controllers. It even includes several conceptual iterations of the devices we’ve grown to love. With exception to Nintendo’s Revolution remote, most are very similar in design, plus or minus a few buttons.

These are some great memory-lane pictures of game console controllers. There’s even a pic of a Donkey Kong game there. Remember that one? Dual screen, orange body. Even the old Atari joysticks… Direct link to see Video Game Joysticks And Controllers.

Tags: video game, controllers, Nintendo

1UP has an eye opening article on the many similarities between the XBOX 360 and the Dreamcast. It’s actually pretty scary, case in point: both consoles launched a year before their major competitors, and even their logos are incredibly similar. The article also goes on to mention why the 360 will not fail miserably like the Dreamcast. “

Slashdot | XBOX 360=Dreamcast 2.0?

Slashdot links to an article at 1up.com titled “23 eerie parallels between Xbox 360 and the Sega Dreamcast.“  It’s quite an entertaining read.  They also have a list of  10 reasons why the Xbox 360 will succeed where the Dreamcast failed.  Interesting indeed.
Personally, I think Microsoft is rushing the release a bit, but I suppose if the console is ready, then it’s ready, and the masses await.  It just seems that they want to get all the unsuspecting sheep off guard right at Xmas time…

technorati tags: xbox, xbox 360, dreamcast

1up.com has a story where the Nintendo Revolution Controller is finally revealed.

Uh, I’m not sure hey. Look at that pic hey. I think it looks a bit dorky.
But it’s an awesome idea, but I’m not sure it’s going to be best for a next-gen console.
Gamers are used to holding a controller in two hands, opposing thumbs holding analog thumb sticks, index fingers pushing shoulder buttons… Having a new and strange controller as the standard controller for the console would be a big adjustment, and I’m not sure it’d be well accepted. The games would need to cater for it properly.

One saving grace is that apparently the Nintendo Revolution will have space for your normal Nintendo Gamecube controllers. Odd that. I’m not going to hold my breath over any of the next-gen consoles, as it will take me a couple of years to actually buy one, at the prices they’re likely to be released at.

Oh well, we’ll wait and see.

Tags: Nintendo, Revolution, Nintendo Revolution, Gamecube

Quite an interesting idea this.

This guy took the Voice Changing Darth Vader Mask (Buy it at Amazon.com or locally at Toyworld.co.za), pulled it apart, and modded a miniBTX PC into it.
Lots of pics. Go see here.

(via Adrenaline Vault)

The guys over at Joystiq point to the ever popular gamestop.com’s Xbox 360 ’super-bundle’, with a lot of Xbox 360 goodies, that will cost just under $1,200.

That’s a whole lotta Xbox 360 kit.

To summarise:
There’s the Xbox 360 Premium Edition console (includes harddrive, headset, etc), 11 games, and additional wireless controller, an extra battery, and more.

Not sure I’d buy it, but for the enthusiast that has $1200 to blow, I’m betting this will on their Xmas list.

Update (2005-09-02):
Gamestop.com added yet another XBox360 bundle to their arsenal, this time coming in at $1999. The call it the Omega Bundle, it comes with more games (20 in total), more wireless controllers. That’s one big bundle.

I’ve recently been in the market for a portable digital audio player.
The main reason would be to listen to podcasts and the odd music CD that I end up deciding to rip to mp3. For this reason, I needed a player that at least has the ability to play multiple playlists. An LCD screen was not too high up on my must-have list.

Naturally, I first looked at the iPods. Nice range, I’ve had the pleasure of playing with both the 3rd generation 40GB iPod, and also a 4GB iPod mini. I’ve seen the U2 iPod, and I’ve held the 1GB iPod shuffle. I’ve also seen how the BMW iPod adapter works (The official Apple+BMW branded ones, not 3rd a party one). The all look nice, and seem to do the trick. However, I found them lacking. Lacking that extra bit of ‘WOW’ factor. I browsed around at other players, ranging from hard disk based to flash based players, JVC, Samsung, Creative, I looked at them all. I’ve come to the conclusion that none of these companies are learning from each other.

That got be thinking of what would be the ideal portable audio player. I came up with the following list of features that I feel would make up the ultimate portable audio player:
Read the rest of this entry »

OK, so they’ve finally done it.
Technologic Systems TS-7200 SBC uses NetBSD OS to control Toaster

It’s always been said that NetBSD is portable to a multitude of devices, except perhaps your toaster. Well, they’ve stuck it on a toaster.

(Thanks daniel for the link.)
(Here’s the slashdot link…)