The Gadgets Page

Hello everyone, I’m Thom Allen, and this is my first post on The Gadgets Page. Let’s dig right in.

A couple of weeks ago I had the chance to put my hands on the Asus EeePC, which is a small mini style notebook computer. Thanks to Clint Savage for bringing it to a local geek gathering (CodeAway), and giving me a chance to see how it works. For a computer this small, limited storage and screen real estate, it worked quiet well. Linux is the default operating system on this PC, and it’s brilliant. Small footprint and minimal hardware requirements make Linux the perfect OS choice for a machine of this type.

Pros

1. Very portable. The small footprint makes it easy to throw into a briefcase or purse.
2. Uses solid state memory and storage. Adding a Secure Digital (SD) card to the device expands its storage capabilities.
3. Runs video and audio with little or problems.
4. Has USB ports for external devices. Devices connected to the EeePC would depend on available Linux drivers.

Cons

1. Small keyboard. If you have big hands like mine, this could be an issue—I tend to wonder on the keyboard and press the wrong key.
2. Solid State memory. I know I said this was a pro, but it’s also a con. Solid State technology means a finite amount of storage on the main system board. This means you can’t run down to your local PC shop and get an upgraded hard drive.
3. Small screen. Again, depending on your use of the machine, a small screen can make reading some text or viewing some videos difficult.

I highly recommend this PC. It’s very solid, and I’ve spoken to several people who have this machine and they tell me it has worked quite well. The price is generally low, compared to my T-Mobile MDA, which I paid more for than you can buy the EeePC. This makes it a great bargain in my opinion.

Last week I co-hosted a quick show with Twitter user acomputerpro where he compared the EeePC to the CloudBook. Watch it here. Next time I’ll give my two cents on the CloudBook.

My father purchased a new computer from Hewlett Packard‘s direct sales website. Upon opening the box, he found one component he wasn’t expecting: A black box, about 1″ by 5″ by 5″, with an HP logo on it. It had three unlabeled coax connectors, and included no instructions. Also included was a 3-connector cable that matched the connectors on the black box, and a card inside the computer with matching connectors.

Upon finding the black box, he tried to find out what it was using HP’s website, but it is unmentioned and unpictured. We also looked at the site of Foxconn, who manufactured the device, and found nothing. Amusingly, an HP technical support representative reached on the phone was also unable to explain what the device might be.

He tried hooking the black box up to the computer to see if it would give us any clues. Nothing happened.

We spent a while googling potential answers: was it a speaker? Some kind of storage device? A power transformer or conditioner? A psychological test by HP to see if people would hook up any strange device they shipped?

Finally, fellow Gadgets Page writer Matt Strebe provided the answer: Apparently it’s a MIMO Antenna. MIMO (multiple-in, multiple-out) is a new type of antenna used with the new 802.11n Wifi standard. It uses multiple antennas to improve communication. In this case, there are apparently three antennas in one black box, hence the three wires.

• Here’s another example of a MIMO antenna made by ASUS. This time the three antennas are more obvious.

So apparently HP was concerned enough about helping customers join Wifi networks that they included an external antenna… but not concerned enough to include any sort of instructions. Or to mention it on their website. Or to tell their tech support people about it.

At any rate, if you’ve found yourself with a Mysterious Black Box, go ahead and hook it up if you plan on connecting your computer to a wireless network. (No, it won’t work as a hub—it’s just for connecting to an existing network.)

Laura’s response to all of this confusion: “That’s why he should have bought a Mac.”

Check out this cool Nintendo DS Bento box from Alafista.

It always surprises me when strange food mixes with electronics. Who loves their Nintendo DS so much that they want to eat it in effigy?

Via: Craftzine.com blog: Nintendo DS Bento

This year at CES was the year of the iPod Throne. Most of the thrones had speakers or chargers attached, but this company, Prosperity Tree had an array of beautiful iPod thrones that were just for show: the iSeat.

There are no speakers, chargers or anything electronic to the iSeat. It is merely a place to rest your iPod, iPhone or cellphone when it isn’t in your pocket. That’s part of the beauty of the iSeat. At the Consumer Electronics Show, they were one of the few products that contained no electronics whatsoever.

Their bottom of the line were simple plastic thrones. They can be engraved with your logo or name. They are being heralded as great giveaway gifts for employees or customers. I liked their simple design and their bright colors. It felt a little like 1986 all over again seeing hot pink and bright yellow in one spot together.

With a minimum order of three, these plastic iSeats are about $12 each, so actually ARE an affordable giveaway for customers that you REALLY like, but they weren’t what attracted me to the booth in the first place. I fell in love with iSeat because of their executive series. You can see them here:

They are like glass paperweights with iPod thrones attached. When I saw these at their booth, I had a vision of my grandma with her paperweight collection and my vision instantly transported to the future where I’M the grandma and I have a huge collection of glass iSeats for all of my gizmos. Here is a closeup:

These units are approximately $20 each with an order of three, so they don’t come cheap, but they are a beautiful addition to your desk. They may not be as useful as the iPod thrones with speakers and chargers, but they are the loveliest we saw at CES this year.

We love the video game, Rock Band, but as with any new hardware, being an early adopter has its ups and downs. In particular, the first guitars that shipped with Rock Band had a common issue where the strum button would stop working correctly:

• Kotaku: Rock Band Guitar Controllers Failing

Although this problem has been known since November 2007, our Rock Band game purchased in January quickly developed the problem: you could strum up, but not down. Since I only strum downward, this put a serious crimp in my already amateurish playing.

Fortunately, Electronic Arts has a convenient warranty page that promised to quickly set me up with a new guitar:

• Rock Band Warranty page

The warranty process took five minutes and a credit card number, which theoretically won’t be charged if you return the defective guitar. Unfortunately, I started this process on January 20th, and I’m still not happy with the result:

• I was immediately sent a UPS tracking number, but they never dropped off the guitar for shipping.
• A month later, they charged my card $125 because I never returned the old guitar. (I couldn’t, since they were supposed to send me the new one first.)
• After dealing with form-letter responses from their online support people for a month, I finally called EA. They were very helpful, apologized, and started the whole process over. This time the guitar was actually shipped, and I received it a few days later.

So now we have a new working guitar (finally!) but EA still owes us a $125 credit. I’ll have to spend some more time on the phone straightening this out.

Got a Rock Band guitar with a strum problem? Here’s my advice:

• Try to return it to the store where you purchased it. EA discourages this, but a good retailer should exchange it.
• Call EA on the phone rather than using their online service. They’re more likely to get it right. The number is 1 (650) 628-1001.
• You may want to consider fixing it yourself—this will probably void your warranty, and it seems like a waste of time to fix something that EA should replace, but I’m wishing I’d done it myself at this point.
• If you use EA’s warranty service, keep a close eye on your credit card.

I love Rock Band—it’s probably my favorite video game of all time—but when I pay $160 for a video game, I expect better customer service. Here’s hoping EA gets their act together in time for me to buy the sequel.

Here’s a video of us and our friends enjoying Rock Band together (with borrowed guitars):

I’ve been playing Animal Crossing for a year and a half and for the first time ever, I was able to shoot down the UFO. It has flown across my town probably a total of ten times in the last eighteen months, and last week was the first time I was able to shoot it down.

After I shot it down, it crash landed in my town and I was able to talk to Gulliver. He didn’t realize it was ME that shot him down, but he asked me to help him fix his craft so he could leave again. It was the least I could do.

You can see my encounter here:

It’s amazing that I can play a game almost EVERY day for a year and a half and it might still have something new to show me. Kudos to Nintendo and the creators of Animal Crossing. Once again, you have given me a pleasant surprise on what I thought was an ordinary day.

These videos from MammaMia19 show a little more of an encounter with Gulliver:

I have no idea how MammaMia19 knew to film on the exact day when Gulliver flew over their town.

“So I was just recording myself playing and Gulliver’s UFO flew by the top screen. Figured i would show you guys. I shoot this guy down left and right. No UFO’s get away with flying by MY village!!”

This video shows what it looks like to shoot down the UFO:

To read my other reviews of Animal Crossing, see here:

• Gadgets Page » Nintendo DS: Animal Crossing

• Gadgets Page » Nintendo DS: Animal Crossing Update

• Gadgets Page » Animal Crossing: How To Complete Your Catalog

Sanrio is creating a massively multi-player online role-playing game (mmorpg) called Hello Kitty Online Game.

Applications for the BETA are now closed and those of us that applied have been asked to create a video saying why we should be chosen. So, I took a few minutes and filmed a video of myself.

I imagined a game of pure unadulterated cuteness without any violence or anything scary, but apparently, there will be monsters. According to their website:

“This game is not just about fighting monsters – there are many activities for players to choose from. Aside from the monster-filled adventure areas, players can dig for ore in a mine, or range the forests to pick fruit from trees. Farming allows you to plant, grow and harvest your own crops; be sure to take good care of your crops so you will have a good harvest, and if you have a healthy farm you can even show it off to your online friends! You can use many other skills like cooking, tailoring, making furniture, and building houses. Commerce with other players will allow you to make a living and – perhaps – even get rich!”

I’m alright with monster-filled adventure areas as long as I can avoid them and just harvest my crops and say hi to Badtz-Maru every day.

“Not only do you have the ability to own a house, but you can arrange it with whatever furniture you want. You can also own pets. When certain monsters are defeated, they may drop “pet cards”, that once used will give the player that particular monster as a pet. As a special treat for players, some Sanrio characters may also become your pets. It is certainly fun to watch them follow you around, but they will also be helpful to the players in various ways, such as for item storage.”

I like the idea of having a trail of pets following me everywhere. Maybe it might be worth it to fight a few monsters if they end up my pets in the end.

Here are some screen shots:

Via: little. yellow. different. – Hello Kitty gets an MMORPG

On our trip to Swami’s Beach to look at the tide pools, I finally tested my Sanyo Xacti E1 under water.

Here is a video of the first time I ever put it under water:

Download this video for your iPod

I got a lot of great footage with the Sanyo Xacti E1. You can see the best of our tidepooling adventure here:

• Starling Travel » Swami’s Beach, CA: Tide Pool Video

Seeing this car in action just reminds me of all the cool cars that James Bond drives. He’ll be begging Q for the Rinspeed Splash.

It’s a two-seater car with no room for even a metal suitcase full of diamonds in the back. I guess you’ll just have to jettison the girl (she’ll probably stab you in the back anway).

With just a few changes, the Rinspeed Splash can take to the water.

Best of all, it’s powered by natural gas, so it’s a little more earth-friendly!

You can see it in action here:

Via: The high-speed sports car that turns into a boat at the touch of a button | the Daily Mail

If you have ever played Guitar Hero or Rock Band, then you have imagined yourself to be a Rock God with the game. The Guitar Zeros, however, are a real band that have harnessed the power of the Guitar Hero controllers and are creating real music with them.

• THE GUITAR ZEROS

You can see them in action here:

They have the complete instructions on how to turn your own Guitar Hero controller into a musical instrument here:

• THE ZERO GUIDE

Using just a laptop computer, a Guitar Hero controller and some software from the Guitar Zeros, you can play music too. You don’t have to take apart your controller and it will still work to play your favorite game. It will just have super-hero abilities when you plug it into your PC.

Via: Guitar Zero is a band that has repurposed the Guitar… (kottke.org)