I’m not a big time gamer… but I do play one game on my xbox 360 an awful lot. Here’s a video I found with a little bit of an avatar intro to the new xbox dashboard. Of course it looks very similar to me (yep, I’ve got one of these too)… but I’m still excited about the update.
Archive for the ‘technology’ Category
For Nerds Only…
Sep 20th, 08
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New Voicemail
Jun 24th, 08
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While at the beach, I’ve got a little more time to be random and take a break from a little work.
Generally on my ‘time off’ I’m actually more effective at my other job(s). I spend a little more time doing the online professor and powerplant thing when I’m not doing everything Summit. So, it’s good to have days like this to catch up on some other stuff. Actually, I graded a ton of papers while we were in the hospital when Shay was born!
So, yesterday I found this new voicemail service called YouMail. It’s completely free, and very cool. I had no idea you could fire your service providers voicemail service in leu of your own. Essentially instead of going to voicemail, your phone forwards to another number (costing you the minutes… but there’s no charge for the service) which then collects the data – etc and applies to your account.
Some cool features of this new voicemail are:
- I get email notifications of my voicemails with mp3 attachments. I can still call and check them (like normal) or just listen via my PC. I love this, because if there’s an important voicemail I can save it in a file on my computer.
- You can personalize voicemails for specific callers. I have a general one, of course, but when Mel calls she gets a personalized greeting instead of the standard ‘hi, you’ve reached Pat…’ This freaked my mom out tonight, because she thought I had actually answered the phone; since I said ‘hi mom and dad, sorry I missed you, leave a message’. You can record and organize all of this online (assuming you have a mic on your computer) making it mega-easy to do.
- You can have your voicemails transcribed in your notification email. I LOVE this feature – because if I’m in a meeting somewhere and wish I could check my voicemail… instead I can just read it. It’s not 100% perfect, but it’s pretty close!
If you’d prefer, you can get all or most of these notifications via TXT also – but email is good for me (since I have the Blackberry). And again, it’s a free service – you just have to count a minute or so for each voicemail to your service plan since you’re forwarding your calls. Ultimately, I think it’s a great trade off!
6 Months In…
May 8th, 08
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I’m about 6 months in (who keeps track) to my AT&T Blackberry Curve, and I love it. It’s a great phone that does a ton. And it’s the simplest things that I love most – helping me stay productive. Though my office is at home, I’ve always loved my Blackberry. I’d have gotten an iPhone, if it wasn’t for the price – and now with the possibility of them going for $199 next month, I am kind of bummed. But I digress…
I have one major gripe with AT&T and I wanted to post my thoughts/complaints in case it affects anyone else. It seems to be universal with all (or at least most) phones on their network. Anytime you get near a radio or other audio device it majorly messes with the sound. I have to keep my cell phone at least 6 feet from my alarm clock or I hear this buzz noise all night long. With most of these phones, you may only hear it when it’s being used (whether it be a call or a text) – and maybe that is where the Blackberry gets annoying, since it is always receiving emails. This noise is really annoying, and I’ve learned to despise it. Sometimes I visit people and their TV starts buzzing from me just being in the room. I like the service, the price is ok, I love my phone – but this is a very big annoyance. Vent over.
Maybe 3G will fix this problem… I’m hopeful, and ready!
Reality has set in
Jan 24th, 08
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Reality has set in. Not only can I not afford the Macbook Air, it just simply isn’t practical right now. For 100 bucks more I could get a Macbook Pro, and while I love the portability factor – the MBP would be a much wiser investment.
However, both are far from my price range. At best I will end up with a Macbook. Hopefully in the near future they’ll update them with the mult-touch mousepad, and I’ll snag one up.
I am close…
Oct 18th, 07
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I have an addiction. I love technology. Not in the weird dorky sense where I ‘chat with friends all day’ and worry about the jealousy of others – but I do love technology.
When I was a kid I was always attracted to it. I used the video camera frequently, creating countless “practice tapes”. I remember we went ‘camping’ in our backyard once. I ran an extension cord from my room all the way to the tent; put a TV in the tent and brought the video camera (for a VCR). It was fun camping. And my dad wasn’t too thrilled about the hole in the screen for the cord.
Anyway, I’m close to getting fully set up in my Living Room.
- I put surround sound in a few years ago, running the cables through the floors.
- I have an Xbox 360 with the HD-DVD player.
- I’ve got a Nintendo Wii. (tons of fun, now I need some cooler games)
- A 47″ LCD 1080p HDTV to play it on.
- An HDTV DVR (like Tivo)
- An Apple Airport Express (allowing me to play music from any computer through my stereo, as well as creating a wireless USB printer hub)
- An HP printer (used wirelessly with the above mentioned device. I can print from any computer at any time on it right in my living room).
- An ORIGINAL NES… old school.
Well, how could I ever need anything else? Admittingly true. But, I think I’m about to move the Mac Mini into the Living Room in order to use my TV as a monitor. It’ll also serve as a total multi-media computer (playing video/audio files), even allowing me to use my Netflix account to watch movies by streaming them over the net on my Mac Mini to my TV. I’m close. It’s going to be sweet.
Now if I had more time to enjoy it. :)