DVD- Gunslinger Girl

Gunslinger Girl is pretty good collection for those who like Anime. If you like the slower style stuff, this is it. Think about Cowboy Bebop's most serious episodes, or Lain. It's like those. Personally I prefer things like Jubei-Chan the Ninja Girl, or Martian Successor Nadesico. Things that have action all through. Gunslinger Girl is a LOT of long holds, and lots of repeated footage from episode to episode.
Don't get me wrong, it's a good series, but not the action packed Anime I was expecting. Before buying this, I'd suggest renting it to see if it's your style. The stories are good. The action is cool (but very short), and the characters are interesting. If any of you have seen Kite, then you should have an idea what I thought this was going to be. Add about 50% more long holds, and silence and you'd have Gunslinger Girl.

3 Stars

-Bradley

Computer: Logitech wireless iPod Headphones

As far as headphones go, they are pretty nice. As Wireless headphones, they are fantastic (with a few flaws). The sound is good. It's not for the audiophiles out there, I'm sure, but for my normal, untrained ears, they are more then sufficient. The range is about 30 yards with no obstructions. And about 40 yards if you don't mind a little static. Way more then sufficient for use at your desk.
I was at a Starbucks, and walked across the street to my car, with very little static.

One of the cool things about this, is that you can control your iPod with it. Volume, track, pause, etc. All are on the headset.

You can also use this with other devices, as a headset. The controls (of course) won't work.
The comfort is good. It's made for people with smaller heads, or who like a snug fit.
they are fine for short term wearing. Watching a movie with them on, is ohKay, but sitting at the computer, listening to music, while you work is a little long for the pressure. The sides pressing into your head, start to give you a sore jaw after about 3 hours.
Over all I like them, and I'm not going to return them.

I got mine refurbished, so I only paid $25. The asking price of around $80 at some stores is a bit high for me, but you are getting a decent product.
One less wire at my desk.

-Bradley

Arnold as Governator

It's not often you hear good things about a political person, or party, so I figured I'd write a more balanced review from someone who actually lives in California. California a few years back was in SO much Debt it was going to sink into the ocean. Mainly because the former Governor, Grey Davis, was signing every single new budget increase that came across his desk.

The way it works is this: The government makes a certain amount of money, lets say $100. Then the State houses get together and figure out how to spend it. Then they hand that to the governor or the People to vote on. Well They were handing budgets that were $120-$150, but with the overages going to long term loans. The Debt was equal to almost double what the people were paying into the State. Many of the increases were long term loans. Well, that money has to come from somewhere. Their answer was always Increase Taxes. California now has the highest Taxes in the US.
Of course, if they told you just these facts people would be less likely to vote YES on them, but they promote them as increases for schools or healthcare, and very little of the money ever finds its way there.
Honestly, the amount of money they have is well over what they need. They just need to re-budget it. When a School Principal gives himself a $200k increases in Salary, and Senators are paying their wife or son $300k/year as consultants or paying a friend's corporation to run their ads well over the market value, then you know there is plenty to be chopped from the budgets.
Arnold actually tried to fix the system. One of his Ballet Measures was to redraw the lines of each district so it would be more competitive. Right now, no Senator can be overthrown unless their own party turns against them. The lines are drawn in such a way that Senator gets about 95% of the vote every election. People just walk in and vote for their party.
The other was to make it mandatory for the Unions to ask permission to use money in campaigns. Most workers want their Union money to go to healthcare, benefits, retirement, etc. But the Unions spend a great deal of their money on politics. President Clinton made it mandatory for the Union to display a notice that says any Union worker can option OUT of the political donations, but he didn't say it had to be easy. It's a nightmare. It takes forever, and you have to do it every year, and in some cases twice a year, and it's a lot of paperwork. Arnold wanted the Workers to already be opted OUT, and instead be able to opt IN. I'm sure the Unions would make that as easy as a check-mark on you pay-stub.
Anyway, I can go on and on about Arnold. But, Despite his apparent unwillingness to choose a side on any issue anymore (after being so soundly stomped on when he tried to make changes), he still has some value. So far, all he's been doing is VETOing every increase in the CA budget that rolls across his desk. He is our last barrier to CA going completely under.
I just wish he'd make a stand on something.

Computer: WOW!PAD 11.5" x 12.5" Mouse-pad

This is the perfect mouse pad. The WowPad mouse pad is made of one single ply of antibacterial, PVC about as thin as a credit card. The top is designed for perfect tracking of all ball, optical mice and laser mice. I love this thing. I have been looking for a big mouse-pad where my mouse would not slip off the pad and loose traction. This pad is Huge. There is a big, blue, foam pad they sell at CompUSA that is about 17x17, but this is better in that it's flat. The grippy bottom is great on any surface--just press down firmly and watch it stick without adhesive. And The WowPad is just plastic, so it cleans easy, and will not absorb your spills on your desk. I've looked long and hard for something like this.
Get it.


-Bradley

Computers: A Hard Drive that works Hard

I've gone through a lot of hard-drives in the past few years. I tend to burn them out pretty quickly. I transfer every movie I have to them, so All I have to carry around is tiny hard-drive, instead of 500 DVDs. They also look better then a rack of messed up DVDs laying next to your TV.
A few years ago I converted all my CDs to MP3, and then after a disgruntled roommate swapped a bunch of DVDs with the wrong boxes before leaving, I figured it was time to go Digital with my movies as well.
Anyway... When dealing with lots of video (stuff I shoot, stuff I rip from my DVDs, stuff I Edit for Friends in Movie Production) and video storage, You need something that is reliable. I had the iOmega Black Drives for a while, but they are flakey, do not have a hard shut off button, and loose data (sometimes). But they were the best I could find for the price. Must people assume they will pay about $.50 - $1 per GB. I like the companies who try to push that bottom line, and still give you a good product.
Western Digital has been reliable. I have taken it on several trips (plane, auto, sent in the mail) and it holds up. Never had a problem with them. They work with PC and Mac, and have a 500GB storage for under $250. It's small, looks cool, are linkable, and have a very quite fan motor. They go to sleep after 10 minutes of inactivity, and power on if plugged into a computer.
I constantly add, delete, and transfer data on these things, and have had no corruption as of yet.
Right now, I have 3 500GB Western Digital My Books. I am waiting for the 1TB book to get smaller, then I pick one of those up as well. I am SO happy with these things. I don't think I will ever go back to iOmega.

-Bradley

Computer: 3M Privacy Filter

The 3M Privacy filter is something everyone who works on things that are better not seen by others around you. Are you tired of getting people walking up to you and asking "What is that you are working on?" Or "Hey, I saw that video." Or, "Should you be working on that at work?"

Well, then this filter basically filters them out. It stops people who are not directly in front of the screen from seeing it. Funny... A few years ago everyone was trying to make screens that had a wider viewing area... Anyway, if you move to one side or the other, the screen looks black.
I've tried other brands including the Viewguard, and the 3M is a lot better.
Be sure to buy the correct size for your screen. You do not want to have to cut them down yourself.

-Bradley

Winter: Yaktrax Snow Shoe

Yaktrax makes a bunch of different footwear for snow and ice. These are the best for normal people. I am now in Canada and I walk to work. When it snows up here, the snow gets about as deep as a deck of cards. Not too much deeper. Today, however, it's deeper, because it snowed the last few days.
On shallow snow, these things are fantastic. On Ice, they rule. I can walk like I'm on carpet, while everyone else is slipping all over the place.
On deep snow, you get a little extra grip, but slipping is no longer a problem. It's the trudging through the deep snow that's the pain. The deeper the snow, the less useful these things are.

The rubber makes them easy to put on and take off. You only need one hand to do either.
I was afraid of the rubber stretching or breaking, but they haven't so far, and I've had them for 2 months now.

These things are made for snow, and Ice. You can put them on inside, but walking on carpet, is bad for the carpet. Walking on tile, or wood floors, is bad for you. Any benefit they give you on ice, is now the opposite on tile.

So you have to choose. Are you going to be walking more on ice, or deep snow, or tile floors with these things? If you choose "ice", then buy these. They work, and it looks like I'll get a whole season out of these things before they snap.

-Bradley

Digital Camera: Samsung Digimax i6 6MP

Warning for Mac users. This camera, despite the advertising on their web-page about this working on OSX, you can
not get the full functionality with Mac.

Mac users should get the i5. The i5 takes the same beautiful pictures, and the same video, but does not have
the PMP extras.

You need 2 FREE softwares for recording Video. One: DivX. You can get this on the Quicktime webpage. Two: Xvid for Mac OSX. You get this at xvidmovies.com/mac/ This will allow you to play all the movies you record on this camera in Quicktime, and bring them into iMovie. They will still be AVIs with a Xvid Codac but you will be able to see them. You will have to Export them as Quicktime to give them to your friends.

I still have not found how to convert your other films to Xvid, so you can play them on the i6, like it's advertised.
at softpedia.com there is the Ultra Quicktime Converter 1.2.2 which says it can convert QuickTime MOV, QT, MP4, M4V files to AVI, DivX, Xvid, MPEG1, MPEG2, VCD, SVCD, DVD(*.VOB) files.

The PMP player is an MP3 Player and Movie Player. They didn't make this iTunes compatible, despite iTunes being one of the Largest download sites in the world. You can only play MP3s. You must create a folder called MP3, and then you can dump all the music you SD card can hold on it. This works just fine.

The movie Part requires a piece of software that they give you on a Disk (only works with PC). This converts the movies into something that can be played on the camera. AVIs with a Xvid Codac.

When I called, and asked why they say it's Mac compatible, they told me the Camera IS, so they can say that. But When the unit is advertised as a PMP, and none of the PMP functions work without a bunch of plugins (if at all), then I feel it's false advertising.

There is a slow delay between pressing the button, and taking the picture. About 1 second, I'd say.

It has an amazing Macro lens. (see the picture I took of a Quarter above).

The low light pictures are better then most of the cameras, I used (except the Casio Exilim), but this camera doesn't have the extending lens that can break in your bag, or refuse to retract.

It's a fantastically great camera. I love the pictures it takes. I have a 2GB card in it, and it works fine. The battery has lasted several days, and is only now missing one bar.

I am not going to return it, but If I had the choice again, I would have bought the i5 for $. It's a lot cheaper, and takes the same great pictures.

Movie: Crank is unstoppable

Crank is one of those films you just have to love. It looks like the people who did House of the Dead worked on it.
It uses so many strange or juvenile clips that it screams "guy Film". From the very beginning when you see the titles that look like a 1980's video game, to the standing around with a hard on jokes, to the cutting off of limbs as easy as they do in Kill Bill. These guys took all the cheesy things guys like and just through them into a film. there is just enough story to keep everything going.

Basically, the film starts off with the killer getting poisoned. Now, he has 1 hour to die, so he's going to spend it trying to get to the guy that poisoned him. The only thing keeping him alive are the things that every guy goes to guy film to see: boobs, fights, crashes, drugs, and chases. A director one said " whenever a film is going South, I put in an explosion, a bare breast, or a chase scene, and it brings the audience back on track." These guys took that and ran with it.
Fun and .... well... fun. Think of MI3 with less story, less budget, and more action.

See it.

-Bradley