Gadgets

Jun 19 2010

Getting My Phone Geek On

I got a new phone recently and have been a bit surprised at how much fun I’ve been having with it. It’s a Droid Incredible running Android. As you can see in this picture, it’s pretty customizable:

phone

I’ve been wasting a lot of time playing around with different apps, looks, etc.. A fews of the apps I’ve been playing with:

I’m constantly on the lookout for cool apps. Any apps you consider essential for your phone?

BTW, here are a few other looks I’ve been using on my phone:

Incredible Desktops

By mike • by Mike, Geeky, Misc • 4 • Tags: , , , , ,

Jun 10 2010

Out with the Old and In with the Soon to be Old

A while back, I got the urge to tidy up the garage. I actually made a fair amount of progress and was able to institute some sense of order in a place once chock-full of chaos and old t-shirts. However, “tidying up” is ultimately a futile endeavor if, at its completion, one still has a bunch of never used junk (and old t-shirts) lying around sucking up space.

That’s where TIDYING UP 2: LETTING GO OF CLUTTER comes in. Yep, this is indeed a very big step for many of us.  However, it’s something that absolutely has to be done (especially if one lives in a small condo) less one becomes cozy with the idea of being a slave to useless possessions and junk.

Selling things is a great way to start letting go of stuff. When sufficiently inspired, I usually have a few things up on Craigslist or eBay. However, selling things can be a slow process, not to mention full of hassles.

This is where donating to charities comes in. It’s a great way to get rid of lots of stuff very quickly and with a minimum of trouble. Also, the idea that others in need could benefit from my junk is very appealing to me. Here’s a pic of a bunch of stuff Jill and I donated just this week:

june2010donations

Yep, just looking at all those bags full of old clothes, toys, appliances, etc., going to a place where they can help people makes me feel good inside. It also puts less strain on the ol’ condo and garage.

Alas, after getting rid of all that stuff to free up some room, I went out and got a shiny new gadget (that will no doubt be a piece of dull unneeded clutter one day.) Below is a pic of my new phone, a Droid Incredible. Hopefully, I’ll get some good use out of it before it ultimately begins making acquaintances with the denizens of the garage.

june2010droid

By mike • by Mike, Misc • 5 • Tags: , , , ,

Aug 27 2009

Computer Geeks

Computer Geeks from Mike C on Vimeo.

Here’s a quick one minute video I shot during a lunch break. Yep, we start ‘em young in the geekiness department!

I have to hand it to Wubie. He’s heard my same tired “VIC 20/Commodore 64” jokes for over a decade now, but he still puts up with ‘em like a fuzzy trooper.

By mike • by Mike, The Kid, Video, Wubert • 1 • Tags: , , ,

Jul 5 2009

Shops and Parks

Shops and Parks from Mike C on Vimeo.

Since I’ve finally admitted to myself that I’m now too lazy to capture video, I’ve been shooting a lot of stuff w/ my little Flip Ultra. The Flip’s neat in that it’s so small I can pretty much always have it on me all the time. I shoot some video, plug it into Jill’s iMac, and drag the video files over. It’s pretty simple. However, it’s also problematic in that the footage it shoots is 4:3 standard quality video.

Luckily, I found a decent alternative via a gold box sale at Amazon. I got a Creative Vado HD. Though it has its share of problems, all in all I’m pretty happy with it. The main reason why I picked it over its competition: it has the widest angle lens I could find in this form factor, a big deal for me.

One thing: it’s funny how fast we get jaded with technology that is really quite amazing. In the Vado, I have an HD video camcorder that weighs just a few ounces, fits in my pocket, can shoot a couple of hours of footage, and costs a fraction of what I paid for a Hi-8 camcorder a few years ago. Yep, amazing.

Anyway, the above video shows us doing a little shopping, doing a little exploring at the park, with the kid; all with the new camcorder.

By mike • by Mike, The Kid, Video • 1 • Tags: , , ,

Jun 5 2009

Lucy’s Wii Fit

Lucy’s Wii Fit from Mike C on Vimeo.

Here’s a video of Lucy playing with her Nintendo Wii Fit. As you can see, she doesn’t really follow the game rules, but she still has fun. Click here to see how little the kid was when she first started playing w/ the Wii.

Camera Used: Canon Powershot SD750. Soundtrack:

By mike • by Mike, The Kid, Video • 2 • Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Feb 22 2009

Visiting Gma Vita (300th Post!)

Wow, this is our 300th post! Yep, our first post was way back in December of 2006. How time flies, huh?

We had a good day today, drove up to SF to visit w/ Lucy’s Auntie Laura (and Izzy/Omi/Luna) and see Gpa Tom and Gma Karen. Lucy got a chance to play at the beach and do a little cat-chasing at Laura’s. I’m sure we’ll post some pics in the very near future. Right now it’s a little past midnight. The two girls are fast asleep and I just finished vegging in front of the TV watching UFC 95. What better time to post a quick video and scribble a little nonsense?

Anyway, I got a Flip Video camcorder off Woot recently. The specs are pretty meh compared to my main video camcorder. However, it’s way small, so it’s perfect for keeping in a pocket or glove compartment (or in Jill’s case, bounty hunter costume utility belt) just in case.

Also, since it was so inexpensive, I can take chances with it (take it to the beach, hand it off to Lucy to use, toss it in a backpack, etc.) All in all, I’m pretty happy with it. I used it to shoot the above video of a trip we made to Gma Vita’s last weekend. In the video, from all the hacking involved, you’ll see we’re all still getting over our colds. However, you’ll also see that Lucy doesn’t let a dumb cold stop her from having fun! Stuff from the video:

  • Mailing a letter/netflix at the post office (yep, it was as exciting as it sounds!)
  • Lucy munching on rice cakes
  • Lucy and Jill exploring the backyard
  • Lucy playing w/ her “mini” car
  • Lucy dancing in fast motion

Music used:

By mike • by Mike, Relatives, The Kid, Video • 4 • Tags: , , , , , , ,

Jan 24 2009

The Mac Turns 25 Today

Wubert!Wubert

Wubert!Wubert

Some pics of cats and computers (what else is there?)

In honor of the Apple Macintosh turning 25 today, I thought I’d scribble a paragraph or two about computers in general and the good ol’ Mac in particular.

I have a good friend, John, who was always into computers. His interest was so keen that one day back in the early 80′s, when he decided he needed a VIC 20, I decided I had to have one too. Yep, though I had no clue as to what I’d do w/ the thing, John’s interest and excitement was so infectious I thought,”yep, that plastic keyboard thingy is for me! Let’s go to Longs and buy it right now!” Needless to say, I never did a heck of a lot w/ that VIC20. I think I ended up giving it to John soon after.

Go forward about a decade. In the years since my ill-fated VIC 20 purchase, I’d given little thought to computers. However, at some point in the early 90′s, I started putting out a comic book newsletter (yep, very geeky) using a word-processing program (WordPerfect?) on one of John’s PC’s. It was during this time that I truly discovered the power and the majesty in never having to use Wite-Out—no matter how many times I messed up. IT WAS AWESOME!

Soon after my “no wite-out, EVER” discovery, I purchased my first “real” computer from John, a 386sx running MS-DOS w/ 4 MB of RAM and a 100 MB HD, for $100. Luckily, Jill had experience with computers, so she was my tech support during this time of transition. I later upgraded the 386sx to Windows 3.1 and a color monitor. Man, that was a pretty sweet set-up for a guy used to banging on typewriters.

Later, Jill’s stepdad Peter showed me his Macintosh IIci (thanks, Peter) and that was all she wrote. At that point my 386sx seemed slightly less AWESOME and I knew it was only a matter of time before I brave little toastered it to the curb and got a mac of my own.

Mike’s Past and Present Computers: Power Mac 7100/80, Power Mac 8600/200, Blue & White G3, Original Mac (found next to a dumpster), G4 Quicksilver, Power Book G4, G5 Dual 2.0, (and for PC’s: homebuilt tower, Sony Vaio Tower, Asus EEE 700 Series, T43 Thinkpad.)

For Jill: Power Mac 5400,  Aluminum iMac, and white Macbook.

And just for fun, here’s Steve Jobs introducing the Mac back in 1984…

By mike • by Mike, Geeky, Time Capsule, Video, Wubert • 2 • Tags: , , , , ,

Jul 4 2008

NASA, Shmassa

Memoryt

Warning: this is another “old guy reminisces” bit, kinda like this post.

I’ve been using Jill’s iMac lately. Because of this, I thought I’d soup it up a bit and order some extra ram (because we all know you’ve gotta max out the ram when you’re doing heavy duty stuff like cruising web sites and answering email, right?)

Anyway, while researching and ordering the ram, I made the very pleasant discovery that ram is dirt cheap these days, and it reminded me of a ram purchase I made way back in the mid-nineties.

Back then, I had just purchased my first Apple computer, which came standard with a whopping 8 MB of ram. Because I was working with (or more truthfully, trying to learn how to work with) graphics and such, I knew I’d need a little more power. So, to acommodate the power lust I bit the bullet and purchased an additional 16 MB. This skyrocketed my Mac’s total amount of ram to a staggering 24 MBs.

“24 MBs! Man, I probably have more computing power than NASA had when they launched those dudes to the moon!” I remember thinking to myself at the time.

Well, to this day, I’ll remember that purchase, because Fry’s was having a sale on ram and I was able to snag my precious 16 MBs of ram for $500 before tax. A lot of money, but a pretty good deal for the time. The cost breakdown was as follows:

16MB = $500 or
1MB = $31.25

Well, thirteen odd years later, instead of trekking down to the neighborhood Fry’s, I did a quick online search (dealram and resellerratings were helpful), found a merchant, whipped out my credit card, and ordered 4GB or ram for $88.  Cost breakdown is as follows::

4 GB = $88 or
1024 MB (1GB) = $22  or
1 MB = $.023

Isn’t that cool? What was approximately $31 a MB a few years ago is now a little over 2 cents a MB! Boy, how some things change!

4 GBs! Man, I bet I totally have more computing power than NASA had when they launched those dudes to the moon!

Yep, and some (geeky) things never change.

By mike • by Mike, Geeky, Time Capsule • 5 • Tags: , , ,

May 22 2008

On the Phone

On the Phone from Mike C on Vimeo.

Gma doesn’t think we should let the kid play w/ the phone, and she’s right….but the kid’s mom (not me!) let her play with it just this once so that mom could get some video.

I guess this is what we sound like to Lucy when she hears us blab on the phone (or to each other). Actually, she may not be that far from the truth. Blah-Blah-Diddle- Diddle-Diddle for now.

By mike • by Mike, The Kid, Video, Wubert • 2 • Tags: , , ,

Jun 16 2007

Lucy’s Wii Mii

06-16-2007.jpg

Lucy, surrounded by her family’s Mii’s. Unfortunately for us, our Mii’s are as uncoordinated and flat out dorky as we are, so they’re a little too authentic for my tastes!

Actually, this could be a glimpse of our not too distant future: whenever we try to get our Mii’s to get-together, Lucy’s Mii is always missing ‘cuz it’s running around somewhere offscreen. Who gave that kid permission to use her appendages in a logical manner anyway? (The current Lucy’s arms and legs just kinda flail in random directions.) We always end up having to blow our virtual whistle in order to get Lucy’s Mii to scamper back to us onscreen.

I think Wubert’s a little jealous that we can’t make pet Mii’s just yet.

By mike • by Mike, Geeky, The Kid • 4 • Tags: , , ,

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