Author Archive
Dora and Diego Digital Photo Frame Only Ten Bucks
$9.99, actually. Which is a damn good deal for a 7-inch digital frame. There’s a rebate involved but it’s only for ten dollars.
List Price: $49.99
Instant Savings: – $30.00
Price: $19.99
Less Rebate: – $10.00
Final price: $9.99
From Circuit City, link below.
Nickelodeon 7″ DORA & DIEGO Theme Digital Photo Fr at CircuitCity.com.
New Netgear Powerline adapters [DaddyTech]
For some reason no one that I know uses Powerline devices for home networking. And they should, because it’s incredibly easy.
You know all those cool new Blu-Ray players that can stream Netflix? New TVs that have built-in YouTube? They won’t work unless you connect the stupid thing to the Internet. Some home entertainment devices have built-in Wi-Fi, but frankly, Wi-Fi isn’t always fast enough to produce a smooth video stream.
Powerline, also known as HomePlug (the official name seems to be the HomePlug Powerline Alliance), lets you use electrical outlets to stream data. Plug one Powerline/HomePlug adapter into your router, then put another one anyplace you need it. I find that I get the best results using wired Ethernet; there are wireless Powerline adapters, but I think that defeats the purpose — wired Ethernet is stable, but running cable all over your house is very expensive. Even if you have the electrical knowledge to equip your home with Ethernet jacks, that takes a tremendous amount of time. (Does the phrase “I’ll install a drop ceiling and run wires that way!” sound appealing? Try running that one by your wife.) Plugging in a wall-wart-type of device is about as easy as it gets.
The speed isn’t what you get with real Ethernet jacks, but it’s better than wireless, and certainly more than enough for most users needs. You also don’t have to worry about dropped signals, Netgear’s new offerings include the Powerline AV 500 Adapter Kit (XAVB5001), which has a smaller form-factor than previous adapters, according to published reports. That’s important, because you can’t plug a Powerline adapter into a surge protector and expect it to work. It wants an outlet of its own, and since most electrical outlets are jammed close together, not blocking one or even two is important. (Note: I’ve read that you can make Powerline work if it is plugged into a surge protector; I’ve never tried it.)
The new stuff isn’t available yet. If you can’t wait, pick up the NETGEAR XAVB101 Powerline AV Ethernet Adapter Kit from Amazon.com. Or look for older model adapters from smaller companies, either on Amazon or even eBay. If you prefer to buy new gear, the Actiontec MegaPlug 85 Mbps Ethernet Adapter Twin-Pack is under 80 bucks on Amazon and has very good customer reviews. Remember that no matter what you buy, you’ll need at least adapters — one for the router, one for the device you want to connect to the Interwebs. In my experience, mixing brands doesn’t matter — I’ve used at least three different brands of Powerline/HomePlug adapters over the years and they all worked fine together.
Netgear brings the goods to CeBIT: HD streamers, HomePlug AV adapters [Engadget]
Reading Texts From Teenage Stars [Tongue-Clucking Pundit]
I hate to become one of the tongue-clucking pundits that I so often mock. But this is kind of gross.
Apparently Montana Tucker is a teenage singer/actress/whatever and was involved in some sort of love triangle with Adam Sevani and Miley Cyrus.
The only one of these three young people I have heard of is Miley Ray Cyrus Hannah Montana Stewart Lipschutz. She’s, like, a really big star. The other two, who knows.
Anyway, the point is that supposedly these text messages were read on The Carson Daly Show. (And no, I’m not taking issue with the fact that Carson Daly has a TV show. He’s entitled to make a living even if no one watches him do it.)
Text messages from 15 and 16 year olds. Stuff like this:
Fwd: Im going to watch a show right now. but I wana be seeing u
perform…
Fwd: I don’t pay attention to that stuff. I like you, is that obvious enough?
Fwd: Email me those pics when u get homeFwd: Goodnight my orange flavored pudding cake
EWWW!
This is gross. Why is anyone interested? Why isn’t this illegal? Seriously, there is no news value to knowing that Montana Tucker might be in love with Adam Sevani as opposed to Miley Ray Cyrus Hannah Montana Stewart Lipschutz, or the other way around, or whatever the hell is going on there. Seriously, I don’t want to know. And who does want to know? I guess other teenagers.
How is this different from the 50’s when people wondered whether or not Fabian was swapping spit with Annette Funicello? (Somebody must have wondered that, right?) I guess the difference is how much we know. Do we really need to see their text messages? Isn’t that just… creepy?
Here’s another thought. It’s all made up. Which would be creepier. That is, Adam Sevani (whoever the hell that is, and I could Google him but I refuse to do so on principle) or Montana Tucker, or someone on their “team” (a publicist, agent, napkin folder) fabricated this story, wrote a bunch of idiotic text messages, and then yakked about the whole thing. That would be a fake invasion of privacy.
The other difference is that now, adults are vaguely expected to know who these people are. Miley Cyrus wants to be taken seriously. I would imagine the other two dopes involved here want the same thing.
Please. Make it stop. Wait until you are at least 21 to be this annoying. And anyone intrigued by the text messages of teenagers that aren’t your own children? Keep it to yourself. You might get arrested like Pete Townshend.
Miley Cyrus? Montana Tucker? Adam Sevani? What? at The Insider.
Miley Cyrus Party In The U.S.A. Image via Amazon
Heavy Rain, not Chubby Rain
A new video game, Heavy Rain, is being touted by writers on CNET’s Crave blog as nothing less than the second coming of JesusElvisBunnicula.
Heavy Rain is by far one of the most ambitious video games to hit consoles in quite some time…Regardless of whether the story affects you, we guarantee you’ve never played anything like this before.
When I saw the name, though, I couldn’t help but think of ‘Chubby Rain’, the fake movie from the Steve Martin / Eddie Murphy flick ‘Bowfinger.’
Turns out there is a Chocolate Rain parody called Chubby Rain that makes use of ‘Bowfinger’ footage. There is also a club called the Chubby Rain House of Tunes.
More importantly, however, are these definitions of chubby rain from Urban Dictionary.
Chubby rain: a crime scene investigator term used to describe the phenomenon were in an obese or overly fat person dies in a room and is not found for quite some time. the result being that the large fat deposits and bodily fluids start to evaporate and condense on the ceiling, so when someone finally does find the body the first step into the room results in jaring the dense semi-liquid substance from the ceiling downward onto the unfortunate bystander.
Chubby rain: To urinate with a partial errection.
Chubby = the partial errection
Rain = the urine spraying everywhere
Anyway, the game is called Heavy Rain. Not Chubby Rain. Got it?
Heavy Rain: Playing with your emotions | Crave – CNET
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Dad And Son Bomb Bank Together
Another father and son crime — bank bombing.
Bruce Turnidge and his son, Joshua, are both accused of planting a bomb at the West Coast Bank branch in Woodburn in December 2008 that killed a Woodburn police captain and an Oregon State Police trooper.
Since people died, prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
Father, son face hearings in Ore. bank bombing [Gazette Times]
Dad Helps Son Escape Prison
Brian Rigby helped his son with his jailbreak, and got himself arrested.
Osceola County investigators say 21-year-old Michael Rigby ran two miles to his grandmother’s home after getting out of the jail. The grandmother then allegedly called the fugitive’s father, Brian Rigby (pictured right), who gave his son a car and money to aid his escape.
Sounds like grandma helped too, but she’s free. She just made the call, maybe that’s not as serious a charge. Not condoning the illegality of it all, but this is definitely a dad willing to go all out for his son.
Father of escaped inmate arrested for helping son get away – WDBO Local News on wdbo.com
Winter Olympics Video Games [Wii Curling and More]
Loving the Winter Olympics? Think you can’t participate? For shame! You can be an Olympic athlete in the comfort of your living room.
OK, you can PRETEND to be an Olympic athlete. But it’s the Wii, so you can sort of get up and move around. A little bit. There are non-Wii games as well for those of you who don’t like to move AT ALL.
- Winter Blast: Snow and Ice Games (Wii, $19.99)
- Deca Sports (Wii, $19.99) — this is the game that has Wii Curling. Yes. Wii Curling. Here is video proof. Warning: the first one might not be 100% safe for work, since it features a guy playing Wii Curling, making a frenetic movement with his hands near his crotch area, and shouting “HARD!” Then again, that’s what they shout during real-life Curling. The second video is just game play stuff.
- Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games (Wii, $39.99; DS, $33.99) — this title has been advertised heavily on NBC during the 2010 Vancouver games, which is smart, because now I suddenly want it. Although even my wife has said that we may need to buy Deca Sports just to try out Wii Curling. How the heck does it even work? So the best marketing is to make a game based on a weird Olympic event.
Shaun White won Gold, but he was already the king of the snowboarding video game. Available for all platforms, and Wii players can get a Snowboard for the Wii Fit Balance Board.
- Shaun White Snowboarding: Road Trip (Wii, $14.94), Shaun White Snowboarding: World Stage (Wii, $36.78), Skateboard / Snowboard for the Wii Fit Balance Board (Wii, $29.99)
- Shaun White Snowboarding (XBox 360, $19.99; also available for PS3, PS2, PSP, and DS)
