Life & Technology

Steve mentioned the World Cyber Games, which are being held at the Beyond LAN Cafe in Sydney’s CBD. This is like the Olympics of gaming, and the winners of the Samsung World Cyber Games National Finals will be going to China to compete in the World Finals. Hope to see you there, especially if you are a gaming fan.

Also spoke about Pipe International, a little Australian company with big plans to revolutionise the internet by providing cheaper broadband, due to a cable it has laid from Australia to Guam. Already the likes of ISP provider Internode has reduced its prices due to the new cable, which goes live today.
Donna called to say that her sons had saved up enough money to buy their own iPod Touch media devices. Donna was worried that they could access the internet. They can, and I suggested to her that maybe they should spend their money on something else, especially if she is concerned that they might be accessing the internet without her knowledge.

Monica wanted to know how to retrieve an email if it was sent accidentally. This is something that happens from time to time, and can be very embarrassing. However, there is not much you can do about it. Some email programs allow you to issue a recall, but that doesn’t actually stop the email, just lets the person know you don’t want them to read it. However Monica was concerned that the attachment she had put on the email would be too big for her friend to download as he was still on dial up. A solution for her friend is to go into here where he can put in his email address and password, and then delete the attachment. Certainly save a lot of time if he is on dial up.

Eddie was wondering if there was enough space on his Foxtel IQ box to record Bathurst. A Foxtel box holds anywhere between 8-16 hours of storage, so as long as there is that amount available, it should be no problem.

Neil was looking for a portable laptop/notebook/netbook that had GPS capabilities and be capable of sending and receiving emails and not much else. There is the latest Dell Insprison, which might be not as small as he wanted

Finally, Chris was wondering about sound drop out on his new full HD plasma TV. This seems to have been a problem for some time with digital signals falling out. Now, people have been asking me for solutions, and I get the impression they hope it won’t involve anybody else. Living in a remote location, being surrounded by mountains, or living near high rise buildings aside, if you are having problems, then it seems you have get an aerial technician in to help. Most will groan at this, but this is the only solution. They have a meter that will measure the signal strength, but more importantly he or she will have a solution for those annoying dropouts.

As you all know, being a tech guy, I love gadgets and how they make our life easier. Occasionally I’ll come up against a person who longs for the ‘old’ days where life was a little less complicated and technology like the wireless and horse were the best ways to get information and travel, respectively.

But yesterday’s afternoon weather bomb that hit Sydney yesterday afternoon was a classic example of why I love technology – smartphone apps in particular.

I was in the city on business and got on the train and arrived at the Museum stop in the CBD and it was hosing down. Now, I had to walk to my destination and thought I’d sit it out, however there seemed to be no let up. So I hit my iPhone weather app, which had satellite images of the weather over Sydney and it soon became apparent that the clouds were going nowhere, but my appointment time was fast approaching.

I spied out the corner of my eye a bus stop. But when was the next bus, and more importantly, was it going in my direction and would it drop me off near my destination without looking like a drowned rat?

So I hit my timetable app on my smartphone, and viola! There it was, a bus was coming by in five minutes that would drop me off near my appointment.
And that folks, is why I love technology. Ten years ago, I would’ve waited out the storm or got saturated, and I would then have had to rely on getting a bus at random – or tried to figure out either via a printed timetable or asking a bus driver – to get uptown.

Forget the whole ‘I saved money on a cab fare because I used public transport’ argument. That benefit pales in comparison when compared with convenience and comfort, promptness and stree free transport.

So, this is just but one example of why I love technology – keeping life simple and helping out in those moments when all other avenues are closed.

Clip courtesy of the Today Show

Had a couple of goes at the Today Show over the weekend. First of all on Saturday I talked about quite a few gadgets

We had a couple of games on hand, which I’m sure will interest the kids. We had a Toy Story game, which includes a 3D bonus level, as well as a variety of mini games and up to 10 shooting galleries, just like at the fair.

Then there was a Disney Sing It, which is a little like Sing Star where you become the singer and the star. There are a variety of teen stars you can become as you try and outsing your competition to become a superstar.

Just at the tail end of the season, a couple of games for sporty types called NRL Rugby League Challenge and AFL Challenge, which is brought to us by the same people who brought out the NRL and ARL mascots games. This is the real deal though, whereby you can play each team throughout a season and make your way to the Grand Final.

Then there was the Twilight Football whereby you push a button and the ball lights up so you can play soccer during the night hours. It’s one way to get kids off their butts during the summer months! Finally, in Saturday we had an electric car for toddlers to ride in. It can be radio controlled by a parent, but also the child can control it, too. It even has the ability to play MP3s.

On Sunday we had Cameron and Leila fighting it out with the Guitar Hero game. It was a close fought thing but Cameron won out in the end. It was a lot of fun, and while I have never really played Guitar Hero, I can see why it is so popular.

Then on Monday I had a couple of gadgets lined up. First is the Veriton Hornet, which is part of the Acer range of computers. This PC sits nicely on the back of a monitor, so it doesn’t take up much froon. Not only that, but Acer claims it runs 43 percent more efficiently than similar PCs, and it also has an HDMI output so can be connected to an LCD or plasma television.

Finally there was the Nikon projector camera. It is claimed to be the first compact digital in the world to include a projector as part of the package. It’s not a top-notch projector, but it is one whereby you can share your holiday slides with your friends while on holiday. It also has a skin softening function and a smile timer that releases the shutter when a person smiles. However, the camera itself offers up 12.1 megapixel resolution. Not bad.