Is It Worth It?

Is the 2nd generation of the iPad really worth it? I don't think so. If you were to go to Apple's website their slogan for the iPad 2 is: Thinner. Lighter. Faster. While being thinner and lighter are one in the same, being faster does provide it's benefits. With the iPad 2's new processor, it is said to be about three times faster than the first iPad. While I like the performance enhancement of the iPad 2, the size reduction isn't all that game-changing. To me it's still an oversized iPod Touch with a few additional components that a computer has.

If you have the first generation iPad and you are thinking about purchasing the new and improved iPad 2 you should really stop and think about what you are doing. If it were me, I would never buy the iPad 2. I would much rather have a laptop. Maybe it's because I think iPads are ridiculously stupid, but I wouldn't even consider purchasing the 2nd generation iPad even if I liked iPads. Is it worth it? Not as far as I'm concerned.

That makes me a genius!

On CNN's website there is an article that talks about how video games can make you smarter. Here is the link to the article: http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/gaming.gadgets/01/31/video.games.smarter.steinberg/index.html. The article talks about how strategy, teamwork and collaboration are factors that allow you to become smarter.



My favorite video games are the Call of Duty series. I have always thought that the strategy that I apply to the game when I am playing must have some kind of factor in making me smarter. Now that I know it has been proven to make you smarter I guess I can replace studying with playing my Xbox! Even though I wish I could do that, the level of brain stimulation-even though greater than watching TV- is still less than actively trying to learn.

Red Rings of What?!

The "Red Rings of Death" or "Red Lights of Death" have been a constant problem with Xbox 360's since their existence. The Red Rings of Death refer to the lights on an Xbox that indicate how many controllers are active at any given time. When your Xbox overheats (caused by playing for too long or by not having adequate ventilation) the screen could freeze and you are forced to turn the Xbox off. Upon turning it back on, the dreaded Rings could appear. At least this is what happened to me... I needed to think fast. I remembered watching a video on YouTube that showed how you could wrap towels around your Xbox to get rid of the Rings. Thus allowing for another functional 3-5 days of play until you have to overheat the thing again. I didn't want to do this risky thing because there is a high possibility that it can cause permanent damage to your Xbox.



So what did I do? I really wanted to get it fixed but I didn't want to have to pay for costly repair fees. Also, I knew that my 1 year warranty expired so I felt a bit lost. Before all hope was lost I looked online and I saw that Microsoft had increased the warranty for Red Rings of Death issues to 3 years. I was overjoyed. I called Microsoft and they told me they would send me a shipping label to get it repaired for free. Now it's a waiting game...

Call of Duty: Black Ops, a Record Breaker

Activision's Call of Duty: Black Ops launched on November 9th, 2010. It has set a new record for the most copies of a video game sold in the first 24 hours after a game launch, with 5.6 million copies sold. That's-That's incredible. The previous record was from last year  which was another Call of Duty title, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, selling 4.7 million copies in 24 hours. That's a lot of Duty! But enough with the potty jokes, on to some more serious business.

For all of you out there who has a Xbox 360, PS3, PC, Wii and Nintendo DS I would recommend this game to you (if you aren't 17 or older ask for your parents' permission to pick up a copy of this game.) I have played my fair share of this game so you know the recommendation is coming from a reliable source. When you play the game you have a sense of actually being  smack-dab the middle of all the action. And believe me, there is a lot of action. So much action that I find myself playing the game for an hour longer than I first intended to.

Speaking from the technological point of view, I find it to be very cool that people from all over the world can communicate with each other via the internet while playing Call of Duty. I've had a lot of fun playing this game, and staying in touch with friends from out of state over the Xbox Live chat feature. Get your Duty on!

Connect to Kinect

Kinect for the Xbox 360 was launched November 4th in North America. Kinect is a motion sensing technology that doesn't require any type of controller for it's games. That's because you are the controller. Kinect has solved the problem of throwing your controllers into your expensive flat screen TV! Your body motions are picked up by the Kinect's camera and it does the action you tell it to do. That would seem pretty cool, wouldn't it? I think it's awesome! What a big leap up from the Wii or the PlayStation Move!

The Kinect:


Some games the Kinect has are Kinectimals, where you can interact with tigers and lions. Also, there is a game called Kinect Adventures which has 20 mini games. Some of which include, rafting and an obstacle course. Sounds like fun to me! For $150 the Kinect can be yours. $50 less than the Wii, might I add.

The Kinect does have a small problem though. If the room that you are playing your Kinect in isn't well lit, it will be difficult for the Kinect to recognize facial features. This problem can be easily solved. Play your Kinect in a very well lit room.

Despite this tiny flaw, the Kinect seems like it's a lot of fun. If you don't already have a Wii or a PlayStation Move, I would suggest connecting to Kinect.

Lockerz

Lockerz is a website where you can buy the latest and greatest electronics, shirts, jewelry and even sporting equipment. I have had an account for the website for about a year now. I have gotten a shirt and I'm thinking about getting some new headphones for my iPod Touch. Lockerz uses "PTZ", the website's currency, so that you can buy things for a discounted price or even for free! Yep, you heard me right, you can get anything on their site for free.

For example, a 32' Toshiba 720p TV goes for about $350. I have a bit over 4,000 PTZ, which means that I could save about $40 on the TV. If you wanted to get it completely free though you'd have to rack up a whopping 158,020 PTZ. That's a lot of PTZ! Although, there are monthly redemptions where you can get prizes for free. The only problem with that is there is a limited time when you can get into the redemption, and they don't tell you when it is. How do you rack up PTZ? One way is that you can click a login button or answer questions called "Dailies". You can even watch videos to get PTZ. 

Have fun getting prizes!

It takes about a minute to make an account. Here is the link to Lockerz:

http://www.lockerz.com/

An iPad Look-Alike

Hp has come out with a new product. The Hp Slate 500 Tablet PC. It looks ALOT like the Apple iPad doesn't it? To me it looks like just another touch screen, keyboard-less computer. I'm not here to bash this new piece of technology though. But, if I were to choose between the iPad or the Slate I would pick the iPad. The iPad ranges from $500 with 16GB of memory to roughly $830 with 64GB of memory and 3G capabilities. The Slate goes for $800 but is lacking in precious diagonal screen size by almost 1 inch! If you know me, you know that I prefer PC instead of Apple products. I think that the iPad is my one and only exception to my bias. Below are pictures of the Apple iPad (top) and the Hp Slate (bottom).


If you prefer one of these over the other let me know and tell me why you like it better. It could be because you have a preference for PC or Apple products, or if you actually have factual evidence to back up your pick!