RandomStringOfWords

SE Xperia X10

On June 27th, 2007 (shortly after I got married) the iPhone came out.. I sort of waffled back and forth as to whether or not to get the iPhone or the N95..  The decision was very much made for me when they announced the SDK for the iPhone back in January of 2008, and I got one a day or two later..  I found out that the iPhone wasn’t all hype and that I seriously made the right choice.. The N95 is a good device but now that I have handled both, I can say that the iPhone was superior in the one way that mattered the most;  the interface.

I continue to use just about all of the features of my iPhone on a daily basis and can honestly say it’s one of the most useful tools I have ever owned..  I have loved this device.. When the 3G iPhone came out I briefly had some unfaithful thoughts and considered upgrading but to be honest I just didn’t feel the improvements were enough to warrant the cost even though it was only $200..  I passed..   Then the 3Gs came out and again, I didn’t see the advantage.. Sure a few extra go faster stripes, but just not that big of an improvement..  Pass again..

With each iteration of the OS, they continue to upgrade the first generation device in lock step with the later generations which I felt was a really good thing to do.  I personally believe that you should never, ever cripple your hardware through software.   If a device can do a thing, it should be allowed to do a thing..  And it appeared they weren’t crippling their older device just so you would upgrade… Until it became apparent that they were doing just that..

continue reading…

Sony DR-BT21G

In 1994 Jaap Haartsen and Sven Mattisson has a stroke of genius when they invented the personal area networking (PAN) protocol known today as Bluetooth for Ericsson phones.   By the year 2000 it was pretty widely known that Bluetooth was something hot!  A lot of major companies jumped on to the Bluetooth Special Interests Group with the intent of developing some really neat technology..  And ever since I heard about the protocol I immediately though, “they need headphones that use those!!”..

Well set the way forward machine to 2009 and I FINALLY have a set of stereo headphones that use the Bluetooth protocol!  Yay!   I know they have actually been out for over a year but it took me this long to find a pair that I thought would be worth having, AND I had a device that would actually support it.

continue reading…

Halloween Costumes

The annual Halloween bash that my friend and his wife put on was a success!   Every year my friend Calvin and his wife go NUTS with Halloween..  They dress the house up, have hordes of food for guests, skads of candy for the kids and even have smoke machines strategically placed to set the atmosphere..    I have to admit, I’m liking it..

I was never a big fan of Halloween as a kid though.. I just didn’t really get into it..   That’s not to say I didn’t like dressing up and looting all the neighbors for chocolaty goodness though..  It was just the holiday itself..  Just for whatever reason, I didn’t get into it..

I think that the main reason was because I didn’t get the “fun” of the costumes..   It was something I did as a kid, but didn’t really get the why of it..  As I have grown older I have thrown caution completely to the wind and will dress as anything..  I simply don’t care about being embarrassed or looking silly..  Infact, I have come to the conclusion that that’s the point!   One day a year you get to do whatever!! Have fun with it..

continue reading…

Razer Mamba

Update (Nov 1, 2009) :: After all is said and done, I have the mouse back from Razer and it is working as I think it should.   It doesn’t do the sleep-death thing it was doing previously which implies to me that the old firmware was horribly buggy and the newer firmware is required for sure..  That was the number one issue previously and it appears to be resolved..   The Razer management team that I dealt with were nothing but professional and courteous though I am still concerned about the “standard” support they are providing as those folks didn’t give anywhere near the level of support that I got directly from the president and his main man (of course)..  My over all opinion on the device itself has gone from “avoid at all costs” to, “okay its not bad so long as you get the most recent version”.  I still find myself occasionally using the G7 which I still find telling but I am not sworn off Razer products as I was previously..  And no they didn’t pay me or make me say these things..

Now on to the original post ::  I was pretty frustrated and angry when I initially wrote this.  The tone is a lot harsher than it should be and for that I apologize, but the message is still basically what I want it to be..

As I have said previously, I’m a pretty hard core Logitech fan.  I use a lot of their hardware, and am always very happy with it..  I have used several Logitech mice in my day (corded and cordless) and up until fairly recently was using a Logitech G7.   The G7 is one of their cordless gaming mice and I have used it for a while.   I really like it, it’s a wonderful mouse and I highly recommend it.  My only complaint being that I wish it had 2 thumb buttons instead of one.. that was it.. my only complaint..  I managed to break the mouse wheel on mine though due to my own stupidity and being a bit rough with it, so it was time to replace it..

A buddy of mine has a Razer mouse and loves it, so when I was at the store and saw the Ferrari of the Razer mouse line; the Mamba wireless gaming mouse — I went ahead and picked it up..

At $129.99 I expected this thing to perform like no other..  In fact, at twice the cost of my Logitech G7, I expected it to perform twice as well..  It came in a really nice box, with a lot of high and mighty claims on the box so I was thinking I had a winner..

Let me be clear here – this mouse is the biggest piece of shit, I have ever.. and I mean.. EVER used..

continue reading…

Logitech Illuminated Keyboard

I have to admit I like Logitech.  Their hardware is always good.  I find their software is a little bloated and doesn’t always deliver but I can’t fault the hardware at all..

So when I was in the market for a new keyboard I naturally gravitated towards the Logitech flock of peripherals..  I was replacing my old Logitech G15 which is a great device but at this point it had so much dust, dirt and kibble between the keys I was horrified to touch it.   (Mmmm keyboard kibble)

I liked the G15, but it had issues; the primary one being, I rubbed all the paint off the keys.   Apparently I type a little hard for the first generation G15’s and ended up removing the surface paint of the home row and several commonly pressed keys.   You could tell where my fingers and hands always sat.

I also never.. ever.. used the left side macro buttons or any of the other wiz-bang features of the keyboard.  It was wasted on me.  Hell for almost a year I didn’t even install the keyboard software for the little video display.. I just didnt’ see the value of it, and yes I play games that take advantage of it.. I just never look down from the monitor..  I needed something new..

continue reading…