robrohr.org : gear

Wear your addiction on your sleeve...

robrohr — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 03:02:45 GMT

In a previous post, I mentioned a shirt with a built in graphic sonic frequency analyzer. I was morose because it wasn't machine washable. Too much work was necessary in keeping that garment in a presentable and working state.

Now I am tormented by a new offering in animated clothing: the Animated Retro Table Tennis Shirt from thinkgeek.com.

Long time readers (hi, Mom) know I have a more than passing fascination with the classic videogame PONG. The thought of anybody taking bleeding edge technology and accomplishing something completely retro with it just makes me giddy. Viz: electric violins. Here, our garment manufacturers have managed to combine the timeless classic of a t-shirt (the raiments of Valhalla and Olympia) and combined it with solid state electronics and a laminar display that shows a trivial, yet oddly compelling animation of a game of PONG.

Even better, this shirt is machine washable.* Progress! But still too much work for a t-shirt, no matter how cool and PONG-oriented.

* Ribbon cable must be disconnected from the concealed battery pack. The battery pack should be removed from its pocket, and the animated decal must be removed from the shirt (held in place via velcro) before laundering. Do not operate motor vehicles or heavy machinery while gazing at this shirt. Pregnant women or people with heart or liver conditions should check with their doctor before being seen in public with a person wearing this shirt. Babies who have parents who think this shirt is "just ducky" should lobby their congressperson to legalize late term adoption for children of terminally embarrasing parents.

For a video of the shirt in action, check out the embedded video on the product page (scroll down).

Note to family members looking for easy gift ideas for a boy: I don't want a shirt like this until the electronics and screen can be embedded into the material, can be laundered, and can be powered by the glow from my computer screen, or my motion, or my B.O. or something. Most anything else at thinkgeek.com would work for gift ideas for either Margot or me.

Have you seen the USB Rocket Launcher? It has twice the range of the USB Missile Launcher...

That is some t-shirt.

robrohr — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 12:59:00 GMT

Thinkgeek.com has just put up for sale an amazing t-shirt with a functioning graphic equalizer built into the front. It responds to "ambient sound or music" (which I guess doesn't qualify as both ambient and sound).

The t-shirt is called the T-qualizer and is perfect for the sound techs who tune a set of speaker stacks to match a room by blasting white noise and wandering about a room with a meter, gradually going deaf in the process. Instead, hire a bunch of Walmart turnover to don these shirts and stand in a grid throughout the room while you stand on stage tweaking the mix until all shirts show a level meter.

Pros:

Look at it! LED geeky audio wonkery!
It sets a new standard for those whose wardrobe is largely t-shirt centric.

Cons:

It's $40.
It's battery operated. A solar version of this would kick some tech tail.
It's hand washable (battery pack is removable).

I will not be getting one of these until it's machine washable, yet I yearn. I yearn.

Gigs and gigs of happy memory

robrohr — Fri, 23 Jun 2006 18:23:00 GMT

I just bumped my dev machine's memory (which is also hosting this blog) from 1 Gig of RAM up to 4 Gigs RAM.

For the past few months, I would spend a majority of my time with 1 - 1.5 Gigs memory in use, which meant constant swapping to the page file (slooooooowwww).

Now with RAM quadrupled, I can cruise at 1 Gig memory in use without needing to even make a cursory glance over at the page file for approval.

I think this merits a "Squeeeee!"

Ill gotten gains

robrohr — Sat, 25 Feb 2006 04:10:00 GMT

Yesterday I capped off an exciting two years of ill-gotten gains, or at least barely-deserved gains, with the winning of a $10 gift certificate to iTunes.

How did I manage that, you may ask? I read a blog post by Robert Scoble, about a new daily video blog called 88slide, which he said was similar to Rocketboom. Now, I'm familiar with Rocketboom. I really like Rocketboom. So I went to 88slide and checked them out.

88slide premise: Provide a 60 second video clip, ask a trivia question, give away a prize. New content/trivia/prize each day. Be hip. Be ~~happining~~ happening. Subscribe via iTunes, and get snazzy content downloaded automatically to your mp3 player.

88slide real premise: show seductively clad young lady sashaying through possibly interesting venue, while glossing over all but the least interesting and generalized information about said venue (30 seconds). Talk about prize (10 seconds). Ask trivia question (5 seconds). List answer to yesterday's trivia question (8 seconds). Announce yesterday's winner (cutaway to non-seductive non-lady, use funny voice, 5 seconds). Invite back tomorrow (2 seconds).

Boring. Answer trivia question. Get reminder email next morning to check out new exciting content. Unsubscribe. Get congratulations email from 88slide that I'm lucky winner of trivia contest from day before. Whee. $10 at the iTunes store.

I can now add that to my list of Things I Have Won in the Last Two Years.

$10 gift certificate, iTunes store - trivia contest at video blog site
Visual Studio 2005 Professional ($899 value) - Microsoft OneNotePowerToyContest finalist.
Motorola MPX220 smart phone ($300 value) - TechEd 2005, focus group participant
Rio iRiver PMC120 portable media player (500$ value) - TechEd 2005, Mobilizer Madness scavenger hunt
Microsoft X-Box ($150 value) - TechEd 2004, Tech-Ed bloggers partner drawing

So, I guess I do feel lucky.

Update: I got a little late-night feedback on my critique, and perhaps I just saw a stinker of an episode. Yes, I'm sure I saw some statistical outliers on the 88slide quality continuum. Each episode is only 60 seconds.

"Guns & Cammo" - first episode I saw, from which I answered the trivia and was picked to win $10 at iTunes.

"Farmer's Market" - in which my mad trivia skillz are announced and I resist the urge to choose a.) Pomona as the only non-tomato in the batch.

Channel9 Guy to the rescue

robrohr — Fri, 22 Jul 2005 13:23:00 GMT

The Channel9 Guy squish toy that I got for sending a postcard to the folks at Channel9 has turned out to be one of the bravest squish toys in my collection. Recently, after being fed up with Imperial policies, the Channel9 Guy was involved in a standoff, Tianamen style, with an Imperial AT-AT. Apparently, beneath the squishy exterior lies a core of steel, or at least a significantly less squishy center.

You can get your own 9 Guy by sending a postcard to:

Robert Scoble
c/o Microsoft Corporation
One Microsoft Way
Redmond, WA 98052

See pictures of the global travels of the 9 Guy at Channel9, along with interviews of the folks working on the guts of various Microsoft products.

If the marketing folks really want my contact info...

robrohr — Sat, 12 Mar 2005 02:30:00 GMT

iPod, schmi-Pod. For the past year or so, I had been coveting this $300 slab of lego brand goodness [click image to see full size]. The embodiment of galactic evil combined with merchandising, machined to Scandanavian precision, and guaranteed to maintain that precise gray for generations.

This particular model is several feet long, and I had visions of that behemoth suspended from the ceiling of my office with all weaponry trained on the unsuspecting individual who traipses into my office requiring technical assistance.

"You want help? First you must swear fealty to the emperor. And give me that iPod."

I thought nothing could top this gratuitous expression of pure evil, and cement my lofty position at the top of the toy heirarchy in the building, or perhaps even out to the parsec boundaries.

Last week I was reminded that, even with Legos, one can become embroiled in an arms race. You think you have the most devastating Weapons of Mass Destruction around, and, kerfaffle! You might as well have a pea-shooter. And a can of soggy peas. Not one of those bulgie cans full of botulism for starting a biological weapons program or a botox clinic.

If you look in the upper right corner of the Death Star, the little gray smudge is one of the Star Destroyers from above. Imagine a Death Star under Construction (slated for release in Sept. 2005) hanging in the corner of my office above my CD collection. That Beatles White Album will get returned to me right snappy, don't you know.

If the folks behind freeipod.com were to start up another spinoff called freedeathstar.com, I'd be first in line to sell all my family's personal information to the marketers, canvassing the hallways looking for unsophisticated consumers to trap in my Lego fuelled ponzi frenzy.

With kit like this, one doesn't need to grovel for free iPods or Mac minis. One holds planetary systems hostage. I'm not about to spend $300 on this puppy any time soon, although I'm not above putting it on my wishlist at amazon.

iProgress Report

robrohr — Mon, 07 Mar 2005 00:11:00 GMT

Progress Report: Rob tries to convince strangers to part with precious marketing info in order to score a free iPod. (see original social experiment)

Saturday, at 5:30 PM, I received an e-mail from http://www.freeipods.com/ stating that I had “received credit for completing the Buyers Advantage offer.” According to the information I had read when signing up, I would have to be a member of Buyers Advantage for 7 days in order to receive credit. I signed up @ 5PM on 3/2. By 5:30 PM on 3/5, I've completed my offer? Not too shabby.

What it costs me:

First month's membership: $1
Should I fail to cancel in the first month [fat chance], automatic billing to my credit card of $8.99/month.
The sharing of my e-mail, snail-mail, credit card info with a firm that is short-sighted enough to decide that the value of this information is on par with the bulk purchase price of an iPod+$19.

What it costs Buyers Advantage:

A $20 gift card to Circuit City. I've already got my eye on the PS2 game, Katamari Damacy. Something I can play with Margot that seems like fun to me, but seems like I'm doing housework to her.
A per-contact fee to Gratis, the marketing firm that is managing the freeipods site.

What do I get from Buyers Advantage?

They offer to give me the kind of purchase protection one would get on a real credit card for $9/month. Joy. Leap. Yawn. If they want to make the sale, I think they should sex up their pitch a little. I think somebody is just running through the motions. If they are relying upon word of mouth recommendations for the success of their business, they aren't doing a good job convincing me.

Update: Margot just asked me if I would give her my $20 gift card in exchange for her signing up under this pyramid of techy fun. Hmmm. I'd have to think about this. Is each referrer worth $20 cash money?

Redesigning the American Male

robrohr — Sun, 06 Mar 2005 02:45:00 GMT

Margot seems to think there may be a few design flaws in the average American male. Lets be realistic. She means me.

If I were equipped with the keys for the three-fingered salute, and could be rebooted, we'd be able to avoid a lot of problems.

I'm sure, if pressed she could come up with a lot of other ideas for improvement to the basic boy design.

When leaving comments, remember that this is a family blog.

Free iPods!

robrohr — Wed, 02 Mar 2005 19:31:00 GMT

I'm doing a little social experiment. I'm trying to see what is the minimum amount of work I have to do to get free stuff.

I'm unwilling to assault my friends & family with the recommended referral text.

Hey-

Check out this great site that is giving away totally FREE iPods!

I've joined and I think you should as well.

It's a completely legitimate offer, and this company has already given away $4 million in FREE stuff!

All you have to do is join, complete an online offer, and refer friends to do the same. That's it!

Here is my referral link. To help me get my iPod, click this exact link to join, or copy and paste it into a browser:
http://www.freeiPods.com/?r=15739893

I'm trying to get 5 people to click the link above, and bullheadedly thrash their way through the marketing onslaught that follows, find the cheapest offer that can be quickly abandoned, then sit back and hope friends and/or strangers are similarly greedy and want "free" stuff.

Because I didn't use a referral link from one of the existing Free iPod conga lines (Google it, must I link everything?), I can't take the absolutely laziest route to potential free tech goodness.

My "free" offer was for credit card purchase protection services that normally come with any regular credit card. I pay $1 for the first month, get a $20 gift card for Circuit City, and can cancel after 7 days.

I view this marketing experiment as practice for living in the year 2025 (am I being optomistic?) If only one of the offers were for a Chip-in-the-Head(tm). I would be on that in a New York Minute!

I suppose I might win one at TechEd. I'll keep you updated. I'm sure you're dying to know how this all turns out.

Personal friends, acquaintances & family:

Thank you for not inviting me to join in this nasty bit of viral marketing
You're more than welcome to thank me for not giving your personal information to these folks.
Whatever you do, don't show everyone how willing you are to sell out your friend's personal contact information to placate your own greed.

Update: [3/6/2005] One would click the following referral link (http://www.freeiPods.com/default.aspx?referer=freeipod@robrohr.org) and register and fulfill one offer in order to generate the five referrals I'd need.

Pong Redux

robrohr — Wed, 22 Sep 2004 17:59:00 GMT

I've posted tangentially about pong before. Now /. (slashDot) has an article (artikal?) about some germans who have made an electromechanical version of the venerable game.

No transistors, no cathode ray tubes; just relays, motors, strings, rails, and good clean fun. The "blip" and "blorp" sounds we know and love are made by wood blocks that have been struck by solenoids. This is a masterwork of mechanical beauty. State of the art - 1930.

It's been a while...

robrohr — Tue, 21 Sep 2004 19:07:00 GMT

I know I haven't been exactly meticulous in providing daily updates to my blog, but I hope you'll forgive me.

Today's New News!

I had some more dental work done. Rather than field a steady stream of comments (for me, one comment constitutes a steady stream) about my poor judgement, I will refrain from showing graphic photos of medical waste that the dentist's office, against their better judgement, sent home with me after previous procedures. I never claimed I wouldn't link to previous lapses in judgement.

Instead, I present the FrogPad.

I just received one of these puppies in the mail the other day. I'm still getting used to it. The keyboard layout is based on letter frequency and letter combination frequency, optimizing to make use of the natural drumming motion of one's fingers when one is bored. Of course, with a toy like this, one is never bored. The version shown above is the left-handed USB version, which I ordered. I probably would have picked up speed on the right-handed version faster, but in the long run, I want to be able to type with one hand while using the mouse/pen (I have a tablet PC, remember?) with the other.

The FrogPad also comes in a BlueTooth version (left- and right-handed) so one can get forty (40) WPM entry into one's cell phone or PDA. The manufacturer claims the 40 WPM barrier can be broken after only 8 - 10 hours of practice, whereas the QWERTY keyboard requires ~50 hours to reach the same level of proficiency. I'm not there yet, although, Lord knows, I'm trying.

On my way to TechEd (Jet Blue Wireless Hotspot, NYC)

robrohr — Mon, 24 May 2004 00:59:00 GMT

I've got a three hour layover in Kennedy Intl. Airport (NYC) and am surfing using the free wireless hotspots in the Jet Blue terminal. I'm so easily amused. The Gateway Tablet/Notebook is working like a trouper, and I haven't noticed any problems yet with the XP Service Pack 2 RC1 yet. Startup is a little slower than SP1, but that doesn't bother me so much. I love the new TIP (Tablet PC Input panel). And this will also be my first blog post from outside my office. Just verifying that the blog works as (or better than) advertised.

The new tablet is here!

robrohr — Fri, 21 May 2004 17:18:00 GMT

I ordered the beast from Gateway. It's an M275, sort of a blend of a notebook PC and Tablet PC. Gateway sells it as a Notebook, but I bought it because it is a tablet. Huge, crystal clear screen! I don't say this often but this beast is sweet.

Anyway, I had ordered it three weeks ago, and the educational rep got back to us with a quote two mondays ago. I ordered it the same day, and was told shipping would be 3 weeks (arriving after TechEd was over). My boss pleaded to see if anything could be done, and the rep said that, since the system was built overseas, the delivery date was set to this monday (the day after I left for TechEd) and there was nothing to be done about it.

Yesterday, I got a bill for the machine, so I followed up to see whether it had been shipped yet. Wowsers. Shipped from Shanghai, China on Tuesday afternoon, and checked into Anchorage, AK on Tuesday morning. I did the timezone math and decided that there was nothing wrong with that data. This morning at 4:00 AM, the tablet was checked into Chelmsford, MA after stopping yesterday in North Carolina. By noontime, it was in my grubbly little paws.

Yippee. Now to get it primed for TechEd.

Prepping for TechEd

robrohr — Tue, 18 May 2004 15:00:00 GMT

I've got a new tablet PC on order from Gateway, the M275E. It's pretty sweet, but it won't arive in time for me to take it with me to sunny scenic Microsoft TechEd 2004.

Ah, well. I'll be taking one of the slate Motion Computing models that are lying about the office. Anyway, I'm getting my system set for a week of geeking out and eating junk food.

I have a spare battery, and hope the technology can keep up with my exacting standards. The laptop I brought last year had one battery that would last approximately 12 minutes, approximately the same amount of time it would take my stinking VPN to connect. Harrumph. Here's hoping this year works out better.

I intend to point out useful chunks of knowledge that occur over the course of the week.

You betcha!

No, really, what's your name?

robrohr — Thu, 28 Jun 2001 19:11:00 GMT

I received an e-mail today that instructs one in how to generate one's silly name from one's real name. I was so amused, I wrote a quick Silly Name Generator to automate the process. I often wonder whether I'm too subtle.