burnaby t wallace

Files under the “oh, I forgot we were talking about technology and by the time I finish my last blog post, something else cooler comes out” category.

This one up’s the O2 by including a standard 3.5mm audio jack, a keyboard, and–oh yeah, did I forget to mention, a GPS? Not only that, but it can act as a USB host–so that you can add external USB devices (think keyboard, hard drive, digital cameras). It has a miniSD slot, but why would you need it–it tacks on a 10GB hard drive.

Sick! This is so awesome it makes a geek cry.

What? Since when did this blog suddenly become Engadget? OK, not quite, but two back-to-back blogs on PDAs is more than I normally would do.

Anyhow, the O2 is going to be my next device (unless something else they come out with is better and/or cheaper). It’s got one thing, as far as I can tell, that no other smartphone has–VGA. Yep–640×480.

Granted, it’s not as beefy a processor as my x50v (624MHz versus 520MHz), but I’m not really doing anything crazy that I would require something fast. I mean, it’s a PDA.

Plus, it’s got the nVidia GoForce graphics controller and it’s USB 2.0.

Oh yes…now I just need to persuade the fiancee.

So, I found that Dell discontinued manufacturing those sweet Axims. Yes, folks…the one that somehow took my brain and encased it in magnesium alloy and made it pocket sized. After Dell exhausts it’s supply of PDAs–that’s all.

Admittedly, that makes me sad.

To add, Apple’s iPhone sucks. It plays music. Great. So does my belt buckle. However, the iPhone does not support Outlook natively. Ergo, it sucks.

Well…there’s the O2.

Then that’s OK.

Check (from TechReport):

MacBooks with larger screens to come next quarter

by Cyril Kowaliski - 11:46 am, February 15, 2007
Apple may soon beef up its MacBook consumer-oriented laptop line, according to a report byDigiTimes. The Taiwanese site has word from local industry sources that
Apple plans to unveil new MacBooks with 15.4″ displays some time in the
second quarter of this year. Existing MacBooks are manufactured by
Asus, but DigiTimes says Apple will tap Quanta for the upcoming 15.4″
models. Quanta already makes Apple’s MacBook Pros, the site says.

Releasing 15.4″ MacBooks would be a logical move for Apple. Current
MacBooks have 13.3″ displays, and their price tags range from $1,099 to
$1,499 depending on the model. To get a Mac laptop with a 15.4″
display, one must cough up at least $1,999 for a MacBook Pro. That’s a
little pricey, especially since Dell currently offers a 15.4″ model with Windows Vista Home Premium, a Core 2 Duo processor, 1GB of RAM, and an 80GB hard drive for less than $1,000.

You may scream foul at “big-brother” when you hear about these GPS shoes, but I think it’s a great idea.

Too many people go missing and some end up either missing forever or dead somewhere. This why-didn’t-I-think-of-that shoe can transmit the whereabouts of someone until the battery depletes. They just need to work on integrating kinetic energy with this deal and they have a complete solution.

Read more here.

I don’t like rap. I mean, I really don’t like rap. It’s not so much the little Civics and SUVs with spinners that thump my inner organs–which, admittedly, sometimes tickles. It’s how rap has now become cookie cutter fast-worded yelps about the hoochies, the money, and the vaunted bling bling. It’s also the entourage of saggy bottomed way too-oversized clothing wearing celebrities with sparkly silver teeth accepting awards for having the most popular song–you know that youths listen and look up to.

Well, I started listening to Akon. A friend of mine thought I might like it–weird. Anyhow, as I am checking out my new MP3 player (that is not an iPod), and much of my other items are encoded to only run on iPods–my listening selection was limited. I decided to give Akon a chance, if nothing more than background noise to cover the low hum coming from my desktop computer.

I have to admit, it’s a very listenable album. That’s saying a lot, coming from me. Most of my daily listening involve a local radio talk show, then nothing but Christian music, some rock, some country, and even some classical. It harkens back to when I felt rap was good…a time where laid back political testements were riding beats song by Fugees and before Ice-T was a musical artist–not an actor and Sean Paul was no where to be found.

A few tracks reminded me of my Marley days. Don’t get the wrong idea, there’s still some tracks that talk about the money (OK, buddy…you own a Gallardo, we know). However, he sings about love–yes, the actual feeling and not the bump and grind type. It’s a fun album, it’s catchy, and minimizes the words that start with F, S, B, and N’s (are you listening Fergie?). Plus, Akon doesn’t sound like a scary bullfrog (like DMX, Ja Rule).

I guess I’ll have to listen to it more to figure out what to completely make of it, but at least my car’s audio system can stretch its legs and rediscover it’s raison d’etre.

technorati tags:akon, rap

I actually had a strong hunch, that amid all of Sony’s woes and blunders (minidisc…am I the only person using it?), the Blu-Ray format was actually something that was going to be light at the end of the tunnel.

When the porn industry said they were going to release high definition titles on HD-DVD, I got a little worried. However, despite that, here are some stats:

• Blu-Ray has surpassed HD-DVD in cumulative sales
• Blu-ray titles outsold HD-DVD titles by more than a two-to-one
  margin during the first week of January (47.14 HD DVD titles for every
  100 Blu-ray titles)
• Blu-ray titles outsold HD-DVD titles
  closer to three-to-one during the second week of the month (38.36
  HD-DVD titles for every 100 Blu-ray titles)

Not to mention that Apple is going to put Blu-Ray on the next set of machines they are coming out with, and we all know how much people love the Apple.

technorati tags:bluray, sony, apple, hddvd

OK. Not really. So don’t call us asking for help on plumbing and stuff.

Anyhow, check it out. The latest item that the fiancee and I installed. It’s the home theater.
Sure, it took three weeks, nerves, some crazed evenings trying to find the stud and running cables, and lots of cash–but there it is.

We painted the living room, rearranged furniture, mounted the LCD on the wall, ran video, audio, and power cables through the wall. I could almost do this for a living. Except, could you imagine the people slightly upset if the television I mounted were to fall off the wall? Slightly upset, for sure.

However, installing a television and renovating one’s living room and home theater components do not make a home mechanic.

The following items that I have done the past few weeks might:

- Ran gigabit cable from one part of house to the living room
- Mounted speakers
- Unclogged a drain
- Change a lock (my girl did that–she’s so handy)
- Installed lighting, and hid the cables, oh-so-nice
- Installed extra outlets
- Troubleshoot switches and electrical conduit
- Solved the mystery of the non-working garbage disposal

Not to mention, I cleaned up the fridge (rather, part of it) and got rid of a weird smell.

technorati tags:weekend, hometheater, electrical, wiring

Yes, I enjoy a sip of good ol’nitrous oxide to get me through the day. Wow, look at all those sodas that I put in my body.

Nice.