Other Gadgets (general gadgets)

[Atticus Grinch]

Originally posted by Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)
Overpriced and underwhelming. I suspect Apple did this mainly to be first to market.

First to what market? Phones have been playing MP3s for years, and content protected AAC files were Apple's own creation. The 100 song limit is proof that when hardware manufacturers get in bed with DRM interests, suckitude is inevitable.

[robustpuppy]

Originally posted by Atticus Grinch
Up-selling through insult. Genius Bar indeed.

Dude knew his audience.

[ltl/fb]

Originally posted by Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)
You can pretty much pick your color

Damn you.

[bold_n_brazen]

Originally posted by Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)
You can pretty much pick your color here

eta: sample:

Ooooh. I want that one.

Although I carry mine in a black leather carrying case with lime green suede for the lining. So I get the lime green/pink combo already.

[NotFromHere]

SEATTLE - The next version of Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox game console will be available in the United States two days before Thanksgiving, in time for the important holiday shopping season, the company said Wednesday.

The Nov. 22 launch of Xbox 360 in North America will be followed by a Dec. 2 launch in Europe and a Dec. 10 launch in Japan. Yay.

The Japanese unit will cost 37,900 yen, or about $345 — slightly less than the $399.99 the company is charging in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Microsoft had previously disclosed the U.S. price, as well as the European price of 399.99 euros.

Microsoft also is selling a scaled-back version, dubbed “Xbox 360 Core System,” for $299.99 in North America and 299.99 euros in Europe. But David Reid, director of platform marketing for Xbox, said the company had decided there wouldn’t be enough demand to immediately launch that cheaper system in Japan.

[Flinty_McFlint]

Originally posted by NotFromHere
SEATTLE - The next version of Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox game console will be available in the United States two days before Thanksgiving, in time for the important holiday shopping season, the company said Wednesday.

The Nov. 22 launch of Xbox 360 in North America will be followed by a Dec. 2 launch in Europe and a Dec. 10 launch in Japan. Yay.

So what you're saying is that Sidd's kids will be having yet another unhappy Thanksgiving where Daddy doesn't come out of the living room?

[NotFromHere]

Originally posted by Flinty_McFlint
So what you're saying is that Sidd's kids will be having yet another unhappy Thanksgiving where Daddy doesn't come out of the living room?

Well, he could always buy that second controller, but it somehow never happens.

[robustpuppy]

Can anyone recommend a good photo editing software program for a PC? My HP laptop came with HP Imaging Software, and it may be the most irritating, unintuitive, practically useless fucking program ever. I want something that will be very easy for papa to use to download and organize photos, while giving me the option of doing more on the editing side.

(I know Burger, my next computer will be a MAC, but it hasn't joined the family yet.)

[baltassoc]

Originally posted by robustpuppy
Can anyone recommend a good photo editing software program for a PC? My HP laptop came with HP Imaging Software, and it may be the most irritating, unintuitive, practically useless fucking program ever. I want something that will be very easy for papa to use to download and organize photos, while giving me the option of doing more on the editing side.

(I know Burger, my next computer will be a MAC, but it hasn't joined the family yet.)

Picasa. Hands down from the perspective of organizing photos, decent for editing (though it's no Photoshop).

http://picasa.google.com/index.html

[pony_trekker]

Originally posted by robustpuppy
Can anyone recommend a good photo editing software program for a PC? My HP laptop came with HP Imaging Software, and it may be the most irritating, unintuitive, practically useless fucking program ever. I want something that will be very easy for papa to use to download and organize photos, while giving me the option of doing more on the editing side.

(I know Burger, my next computer will be a MAC, but it hasn't joined the family yet.)

[Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)]

Originally posted by robustpuppy

(I know Burger, my next computer will be a MAC, but it hasn't joined the family yet.)

Pony's helpful response aside, while iPhoto is very good for organizing, its editing capabilities are pretty limited (although the new version, 5, may be a lot better). You can crop, resize, bright/contrast, and remove red eye, it's not much more than that. But that may be all you need or have time for.

[pony_trekker]

Originally posted by Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)
Pony's helpful response aside, while iPhoto is very good for organizing, its editing capabilities are pretty limited (although the new version, 5, may be a lot better). You can crop, resize, bright/contrast, and remove red eye, it's not much more than that. But that may be all you need or have time for.

Anything more than that and he would have to use photoshop.

And IMovie and IDVD are great for taking downloaded porno clips, editing (doing stuff like looping the audio where the girl says "I'm a dirty fucking whore--deal with it") and burning the whole thing to a DVD.

[Flinty_McFlint]

Standalone Series 2 Tivos support networking, so you can watch recordings from any Tivo in the house. Directv branded Tivos have this function disabled. There are tons of helpful forums showing how to hack these Directv tivos to install better software and enable the network access, although it's pretty dense and complicated and knowledge of linux is extremely helpful. I don't need any links to the how-to threads, I just want to know if anyone else here has tried this yet? I've hacked my other dvr, but tivos are a whole new ball of wax for me and I wanted to gauge the difficulty factor.

[NotFromHere]

I was informed that my HDTivo and my HD satellite dish will be obsolete next year when they begin broadcasting in MPEG 4.

Crap. That fucker's not even a year old yet. And I'm not sure I want a 36" dish on my house.

The birds have already been launched.

Assholes.

[Penske_Account]

I have a Palm Treo 600 with T-Mobile. I am looking to swith to a different carrier and a Treo 650.

Verizon, Cingular or Sprint? Pros or cons?

Merci.