loPEZ Dispenser

It is no secret that I am a lover of video games. When it comes to games, the only difference between 12 year old Steve and current Steve is that I now have more money (but less time) to spend on my favorite hobby. Because of those time constraints I currently have a backlog of games that I already own, but haven’t really been able to play. I do spend plenty of time playing games, but lately (since November) my 360 spends the majority of its cycles spinning the Rock Band DVD while I am wailing away on the drums. My enjoyment of this game starves the time that I would have otherwise spent on Crysis, Mass Effect, Burnout Paradise and Lego Star Wars.

I have always been one to try to beat all of my games; not doing so is like reading half a book or stopping a movie partway through. I do occasionally turn off a movie if it is terrible (which usually means that my wife selected it), but it has to really, really suck. Since Christmas I have played through Call of Duty 4, Super Mario Galaxy (both are console classics) and Lost: Via Domus (crappy, but its Lost, so I had to play it). I have also completed about half of Assassin’s Creed, and put a few hours into Burnout Paradise. The problem is that I keep gravitating back to Rock Band. I completed all that I ever will in that game a while ago, so I basically just play in freeplay mode or online. I have a great time doing this, but never really “accomplish” anything, since there is no progression towards some goal. I don’t exactly understand why this bothers me, but it does.

The reason that I mentioned all of that is because Grand Theft Auto 4 will be released next Tuesday (April 29), and I will almost certainly buy it within the first week. I don’t know whether it’s the hype or some subconscious desire that makes me do this, but I have decided to concede any attempt at willpower in this area. At least I’m not buying drugs, though I may have to sell them in the game! I will probably not play it until I get through more of Burnout Paradise and play the drums to Boston’s “Peace of Mind” for the hundredth time. But, when I do get the urge my copy of GTA4 will be ready and waiting in my entertainment center.

Now that I think about it I do the same thing with books and movies/TV. I just ordered four or five new books on Buy.com the other day, and I still have about 500 pages left in Dark Tower #7 and at least one other unread book on my shelf. I have DVDs of Veronica Mars, Firefly and Planet Earth (in HD) where I have at most watched a couple of episodes.  I don’t see this as a case of “keeping up with the Jones’ ” since no one knew about most of these things prior to the publishing of this article. I think once I hit critical mass, which will occur when my wife says so, I will impose a moratorium on myself related to games, books and movies. On second thought that wouldn’t be very fun.

UPDATE: 6/26/07

Alright, since Friday is the hotly anticipated debut of the iPhone, I thought it would be poetic to resurrect this post from six months ago.

As the Mac elitists salivate over what could be their next very expensive gadget I will watch and wait. I’m thinking the touch controls might not be as intuitive as described. I’m thinking people will get irritated by all the fingerprints, smudges, and makeup residue (for the ladies of course) all over their pretty machine. I’m thinking people will soon realize that surfing the web from a phone is not “fun” but it is tiresome and really only useful in a pinch. I’m thinking that smart phone users won’t really find the usefulness of the device to be any greater than what they are used to.

Then again, anyone crazy enough to drop five or six hundred dollars on a phone without a thought would be in denial about it. Not only that, but it is the first generation and everyone knows that its best not to buy a first generation electronic device (especially with Apple since they tend to make their own products obsolete very quickly). Nevertheless, Mac fanatics will stand behind their product whether they truly love it or not.

Huh, here is a first review…

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Original Post:

Alright. I want to make this rant really quick. Yesterday was the MACWORLD conference where Steve Jobs introduces all the new products that Mac will be introducing this year. The media is going nuts over the new iPhone and iTV (there was even a website giving minute by minute updates on the conference). The hype is so hot that Mac shares went up like 8% in one day. I say so what.

In 2001, when Mac introduced the 1st Gen iPod to the world I had the same reaction. I already had an mp3 player. It was made by a company called iRiver. Comparing apples to apples my iRiver beat out the iPod in every category except one…looks. A couple years later I upgraded to a new hard drive based iRiver, the H300. My H300 is awesome. It plays many formats of music, shows pictures and videos, has a built in mic and line inputs for recording, has FM radio, text reader and more. Again, my H300 easily beat out the iPod for features (but not looks). Then Mac released the photo iPod and then the video iPod and the features still don’t match what my now discontinued H300 can do. So what’s my point?

Mac is not as revolutionary as they claim to be. What makes them dominate is that their products look nice, have good interfaces, and they use incredibly clever marketing tactics. Mac people will counter and say, but the iPod is so popular because of iTunes. Well, I read some stats about iTunes. It was something about if you take the total number of songs and divide it by the number of iPods it averages out to like five songs sold per iPod. So that couldn’t possibly be the selling point. Additionally, the fact that Mac uses proprietary DRM technology (via AAC files) will come to haunt them later on (that is a discussion for another day).

Well this post isn’t about the iPod. It’s about the two new “revolutionary” products Mac has now developed. Let’s start with the iTV. This is a set-top box that allows you to view photos, movies and music that are hosted on your computer on your TV. You also have the ability to pull down content directly off of the Mac websites. The iTV has a built in 40 GB hard drive and integrated 802.11 wireless capabilities. I say SO WHAT!!

I have had my Series 2 TiVo now for 2.5 years. TiVo in general has been around much longer. My TiVo can do all this and more!! I can view my pictures and music, look at weather, buy movie tickets, download podcasts, play games, check email, get exclusive content, transfer video to/from my PC, all that the iTV has to offer. PLUS ITS A TIVO TOO!! I can record TV. Can you do that iTV? If I need to see video that my TiVo can’t handle, I simply hook my laptop up to the TV and Viola!! Additionally, if you happen to have a modded Xbox all these features are also at your finger tips. My point is that the concept of iTV is nothing new to the informed.

Now on to the iPhone. I gotta admit, at first this thing sounded awesome. Actually, the look and user interface (UI) do sound really cool. I am intrigued by the newly developed “multi-touch” technology that the touch screen uses. Anyways, this thing does it all. It’s like an iPod, PDA, web browser, and phone all in one. It can do the music, photos and video. It can control your email and calendar. It’s a cell phone. It has a built in web browser that can surf all pages, not just mobile web pages. It can piggy-back onto Wifi networks. There will be two models released. One with 4 GB of flash memory ($500) and one with 8 GB of flash memory ($600). Again, SO WHAT!!

My Moto Razr plays songs, takes pictures, downloads video, has a calendar, can surf the web, has built in GPS and navigation, can check email, etc. Take a step up to a Treo, Moto Q, or other equivalent smart phone. These all have the same features as the iPhone. So why is the iPhone so “revolutionary”? Jobs claimed that this will replace the need for multiple devices being carried around at the same time. Really Steve? Do you honestly think that somebody who is used to carrying around your 80 GB video iPod will be satisfied with a device that only holds 8 GB? I hardly think so. I don’t always need my mp3 player. I don’t always need my email. Sometimes I just want my phone. Sometimes I just want my iRiver. I like my devices separate.

On top of that, Mac made a critical mistake by signing an exclusive partnership with Cingular Wireless to be the provider. I believe that according to consumer reports Cingular is generally regarded as the countries worst wireless provider. Additionally, Cingular’s broadband network, EDGE, maxes out download speeds at 80k which pales in comparison to Verizon’s EVDO service (EDGE does have the best nationwide coverage at this point). So if you are planning on visiting graphics rich web pages, you better hope that you are in range of a Wifi network.

I don’t mean to poop on Mac (yes I do) but I just don’t see what the big deal is. Discuss away…

PS. I guess this wasn’t a quick rant…

If you are in the market for a USB stick I wholeheartedly recommend that you buy a Sandisk; specifically this one, for sale at Amazon. You might be asking yourself, why is he advertising for Sandisk? The reason is simple, the memory stick shown here has now gone through two complete cycles in my washing machine and dryer and still performs perfectly. Last night when taking clothes out of the dryer I heard something rattling around inside. Usually this noise is due to loose change, but when I saw my precious USB stick my heart sank momentarily. We had been through this before and came out unscathed, but the fear of data loss always causes me physical duress.

When USB memory sticks were first released they were so brittle that I went through two within six months. If you looked at them wrong they would break. Go ahead, try and pull a first gen USB stick out of your USB slot while the operating system still has control of it. I would place money on the fact that the file system would become corrupted. This can usually be fixed with a reformat, but that means that all of the data is lost. I have had these things crack, break in half and simply fall apart in the past. Nowadays they are generally much better. I currently have two Sandisk 1GB sticks, and have had absolutely no problems with either of them. One is permanently attached to my keychain, which means it takes a lot of physical abuse (such as running up against metal keys in my pocket all day). I have never tried to wash that one, but I am almost certain that it would come out clean and functional.

Electrical circuits are not inherently susceptible to water damage, at least not any more than most other items. The problem arises when current is flowing through the circuit while it is wet. Water acts as a conductor, and effectively adds connections in the chip (which result in shorts in the circuit) where they should not be. That is how circuits are damaged. The fact that my USB stick was not connected to any power source meant that there was no chance of a short. That explains how it lived in the washing machine, but how about the dryer… It gets really hot inside of a dryer. In my experience the number one killer of integrated circuits is heat, so this could definitely cause the stick to break. I did a little bit of research and found that most dryers get to an air temperature of just under 200 degrees F. That is definitely hot enough to damage an integrated circuit, though I doubt that all of the items in the dryer actually ever reach that temperature. I am not about to put a thermometer into my dryer, so I may never know.

All that really matters is that my memory stick is still alive, with all of its data intact. I will definitely pay the premium for Sandisk memory products in the future. Please remember to check your pockets before putting your pants into the wash. I imagine that even plastic USB memory sticks only have so many lives.

Who else who writes for or reads Destination Lopez can say that they have spent a night out in front of a Target? No one. Is it kind of sad that a twenty something, married, father and professional was willing to sleep on the concrete in 40 degree temperatures for a video game console? Sure, but to my credit, I wanted something and was willing to do whatever it took to get it. Had I rested on my laurels I would not have one right now. When the GameCube came out back in 2001 I waited in line for about ten hours (though that was inside at a Wal-Mart) in order to get one. Back then I was a senior in college, so at least I could use that as an excuse. Would I do it again? Sure, why not. I was definitely not the oldest person in line. Maybe next time (probably 2011) my son will camp with me.

Anyway, I have my Wii and have been pleased with it so far. My wife and I played it together for more than an hour the other night. I can take her in tennis and bowling, but she beats me in golf. I haven’t played Zelda enough to comment on it yet, but will as soon as I get my homework turned in tomorrow. All of the people in line were pleasant and orderly. Nintendo fans aren’t savages like all of the Sony people who go around shooting each other.
I was number 32 (there were 69 consoles available), and only had to spend 12 hours in line. I saw people lining up in front of Best Buy on Friday; they are the true crazies since they could have easily not shown up an entire day and a half later and still gotten one. It was cold on Saturday, but I have a nice sleeping bag so I was fine. It was funny hearing some of the others complaining about the cold throughout the night. I watched some videos on my laptop (Heroes is a great show) and even got some homework done.

In the morning when the Target manager handed out the tickets that we had to use to get the consoles it was apparent that there were way more people than Wii’s. I estimate that about 40 people in line did not get one. Some of them had not shown up until 7am, but some others had spent the night with the rest of us. That would have sucked.

My friend Steve Myers sent the a link to THIS STORY which talks about how the Israeli military is developing some questionable technology.

Israel’s constant conflict is similar to our war on terror. They aren’t fighting a known enemy soldier in uniform flying a sovereign flag. The cowards they are fighting disguise themselves amongst civilians and hide out in churches and mosques. So just how does a military combat these invisible fighters? Well, they do it by using cool but controversial new technology.

Israel is developing nano drones they are calling a “bionic hornet”, referencing that they want it no bigger than a hornet. These drones will have the ability to “chase, photograph, and kill” whatever unlucky target finds its way into the cross hairs. These drones “would be able to navigate [their] way down narrow alleyways to target otherwise unreachable enemies such as rocket launchers”, he article states. In addition to these drones they are developing gloves a human can wear to give them super-human strength.

This technology is the wave of the future but what is scary is the thought of these devices in the wrong hands. Imagine a contract killer with an untraceable assassin drone. Bad news for all the cheating husbands out there…